


To Breathe Again

by CheckersXIV



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Breath of the Wild Spoilers, Canon-Typical Violence, Cussing, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Identity Issues, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Let Sora Say Fuck, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, botw au, implied PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:27:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 32,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29888697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheckersXIV/pseuds/CheckersXIV
Summary: The dawn of a new century is what greets Sora when he wakes up. A beautiful world littered with ruins of ages past beckons him to adventure the great unknown. Yet a great darkness brimming of corruption and malice threatens engulf the entire world. With the voice of a princess echoing in his head and the grumbles of a Sheikah guide; Sora struggles to accept just what countless strangers seem to expect of him, who he once was: that he is a hero who must save the world.___AKA: The KH/BOTW AU that no one asked for.
Relationships: Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18
Collections: Soriku Big Bang 2020





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> I had the absolute, most wonderful partner in the whole wide world for this fun challenge. Ali, you're amazing and this art you've created for my little fic is what motivated me to finish this story. Chapters will be posted Bi-weekly, each Sunday!

__________________________

It’s dark. There’s nothing, an empty black, hollow and eternal. 

...

Then there’s a light. It flickers briefly in an unseen breeze like a flame. Although it’s glow is small and faint, it is still bright.

...

_[..-ora..]_

_[...open your eyes...]_

_[Wake up.]_

...

_[Wake up Sora.]_

...

_[Wake up you lazy bum!]_

“BWAH!”

The sound of splashing echoes in the chamber as it’s sole occupant sits up right with a start— his breathing fast. He looks around, the water that he was laying in quickly draining. He’s sitting within a shallow pool of some sort in the middle of a room covered in strange symbols. The chamber glows with a blue pulsing light, coming from the shapes, interconnecting circles and dots on the walls and roof.

_[Sora...]_

“Who’s there?” He calls out, looking around for the source of the voice.

_[Sora, please. You are the light... you must return to Hyrule...]_

“Who are you?” Then he blinks, “and who’s Sora?”

__

There’s a loud rumble and grind of stone moving. He tugs uselessly at the hem of the fraying shirt that he pulled out of a stone chest.

_[Are you pouting?]_

“No!” The girl’s voice snickers in his head, causing him to roll his eyes. A moment later, he hisses, blinding light shining into the dark caves straining his sight, with a gush of fresh air following. The scent of pine tickles his nose, birds chirping faintly meeting his ears.

_[Well? What are you waiting for?]_

He can’t help but grin and takes off at a run.

The sight of the world greets him. Towering snowy mountains in the far distance, grass plains stretching as far as the eye can see, and a fiery volcano simmering thousands of miles away. A castle stands in the center of it all, like a beacon. 

“Woah...”

A faint waft of smoke catches his attention. Turning a bit, looking down the slope, he sees a hooded figure looking his way. They’re resting under a rocky alcove, beside a campfire. The person turns back to their fire.

It doesn’t take him long to get there.

“Hey there!”

The person, an older man by the sound of his voice, nods. “Why, hello.” He pokes at the fire, “I do not see many strangers up here on the Great Plateau. May I ask, what is your name?”

“Oh, it’s...” he scratches his cheek. _What did she call me?_ “...Sora?”

“It’s nice to meet you Sora.” So he says, but his eyes are clearly on the object at his hip— the Sheikah slate. 

“And you are?”

“No one really, just an old fool who once thought himself wize.” He looks back up to his face, “but you may call me Diz.”

The boy squints at him, “is that really your name?”

“No. Is Sora really yours?”

“I,” he hesitates. “I don’t really know...”

“Well, you can make it yours.”

He blinks, “how do I make a name mine?”

“You simply say it with confidence.”

They stare at each other for a moment before Sora sticks out his hand, “It’s nice to meet you Diz!” He grins, “I’m Sora!”

Diz stares at his hand before bursting out into a hearty laugh. For a moment, Sora thinks he did this wrong but then Diz takes his hand. Still chuckling he replies, “the pleasure is all mine Sora.”

_[Sora.]_

He starts, once more looking around for the source of the voice. “Hey Diz, did you hear that?”

“That depends... what was it you heard?”

“A girl’s voice,” Diz’s breath catches, but Sora misses it as he keeps talking. “I don’t know who she is, but she keeps calling out my name. Called me a lazy bum too.”

The fire crackles for a moment before Diz shakes his head, “I heard no such thing. That doesn’t mean that you did not though.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“I think you should listen to her, see what she is trying to tell you.”

“Why?”

“...Do you have anything _better_ to be doing?”

“Hm, I guess not.”

__

Sora hurls the tree branch across the dry river bed. In a stroke of pure luck, the wood smacks the bokoblin right in it’s beady little eye. It drops it’s sword, squealing in pain, and Sora wastes no time dodge rolling the arrows being fired by it’s companion to snatch it up. In two slashes the monster bursts into purple smoke. The remaining bokoblin points it’s finger and screams at Sora, which was stupid, because in another two seconds it too disappears into nothing. When the smoke clears, all that remains are a tooth and a bow that looks more like a tree branch with a string attaching the ends.

_I guess I could use that._

Sora takes a second to adjust to the weight of the bow now across his back, securing the dropped quiver of arrows around his waist. 

_[Nice job.]_

“Thanks!”

It maybe should bother him that this girl seems to be watching his every move, but Sora is quickly growing used to her voice chiming in his head. She’s not always there, but he can kind of feel when she is. It’s this warm presence coming from within, near his own heart.

“What’s your name, by the way?”

There's a pause before she answers, _[I’m Kairi.]_ He can feel her hesitation before she speaks again. _[You probably shouldn’t tell others you can hear me, Sora.]_

Sora hums as he takes in his surroundings. Uphead should be the glowing point from the map. Sure enough, peeking out from the hillside and wedged within the rock are some ruins pretty similar to the ones he climbed out of maybe an hour ago.

Sora jogs over to the pedestal buried in the rubble. “Why not? The only other person here is Diz.”

_[Other people will think you’re crazy for talking to a voice inside your head.]_

Sora squirts at the now glowing ruins in the pedestal, “Am I crazy?”

_[No, I’m using magic to contact you. But I would prefer it if you didn’t-- Oh, you should place the slate in the opening.]_

Sora grabs the Sheikah slate and puts it in the hole. It sinks down into it, as the top of the pedestal glows from orange to blue. “Just trying to make things easier right?”

She giggles, _[Exactly-]_

A message appears on the screen on the slate: **[Sheikah Tower activated.]**

Sora squints at the second half. “Hey, Kairi? Why does it say watch out for falling rocks--”

Birds cry out, monsters roar, and Sora yells as the entire world shakes. 

__

Far away, amidst the screaming of the shaking earth and yells of surprise, a single person gleefully laughs from her house.

“L-lady Ava!?”

“Well now,” her fox mask does nothing to hide her smile. “He’s awake.”

__

Sora groans as he rolls himself up to his feet. Then stops- blinks twice- and yells. “What the fuck!?”

When did the ground become that far away??

_[Sor-]_

Kairi’s presence flickers from within, she feels fainter than before.

“Kairi!?”

 _[I’m sorry, Sora.]_ She sounds so tired. _[I wanted to be there for you, when you woke up.]_

“Kairi-?” A glow in the distance catches Sora’s eye. A bright shining light, coming from a castle on the horizon.

_[Try... try to remember. You’ve been asleep for the past 100 years—]_

Sora staggers as the ground lurches violently—

She cuts off, her warmth disappearing, as the earth continues to shake.

“Kairi!”

In the distance, something dark rises from the ground. The darkness grows, swirling clouds of miasma rising high, almost swallowing the spires of the castle. An unholy howl screeches through the air, one that makes the hairs on his arms stand on end.

The bright light flares once, cutting off the spread of the darkness, silencing it’s cry.

 _[...Sora,]_ she sounds exhausted.

“Kairi?”

_[I can’t... hold it back forever.]_

“That was you? Are you in that castle?”

 _[Sora, listen to me. Please, I can give you some time... ]_ Her voice, her presence, starts to fade. _[But Hyrule needs you, we need you, to remember who you are.]_

“What do you mean? Kairi?”

_[Never forget, the three of us... we’re best friends.]_

Then she’s gone.

__

In order to get off the plateau and not become a sora-pancake by plumpetting to his death- he needs a paraglider. The only one on the ‘devoid of all life but monsters’ land mass is the one Diz has. 

The good news: the old man is totally willing to fork it over. The bad news: he needs to get through some mini puzzle areas, called ‘Shrines’ that are safe kept by these zombified monks.

Yup.

Sora spends three days crawling all over the entire land mass that is the Great Plateau. One day for each shrine that he has to get to, excluding that first one that Diz tricked him into getting into. He nearly froze to death in some icy water on Mount Hylia after losing his footing. Then had a good chuckle about how said water was named on the Sheikah slate map as the ‘River of the Dead.’ Fitting, right?

Currently, he stands on the platform in front of the now completed final shrine, atop the snowy mountain. Thank Hylia he got his hands on the warm doublet, it’s so much better than that fraying shirt.

“Can I have the stupid paraglider now?”

Diz chuckles, “Not yet, oh courageous one.” Sora groans, but it’s drowned out by more of Diz’s laughter. “Do you know what is said about that Sheikah slate you carry on your hip?”

“Buddy, I didn’t even know my name until, like, a day ago.”

“Hmm, well, the towers, shines and slate were all crafted by the same people. A tribe of wise and skilled warriors known as-”

“-the Sheikah?” 

Diz glares at him. 

Sora mimes zipping his mouth shut.

“...Correct. As I was saying, it was once believed that their ancient technology was lost to the ages. And yet, you, Sora, have access to them all from that slate. The shrines are tucked away all across the land of Hyrule. It would be in your best interest to seek them out and become stronger.”

Diz looks away. “With this last shrine, you have acquired all of the spirit orbs on the plateau. That means... it is finally time.” He looks him in the eye. “Sora, it is finally time for me to tell you everything.”

“Tell me what- whoa!”

Diz begins to glow an ethereal blue, small flames surrounding him. “Find me... where time... was once worshiped.” He fades into nothing.

Sora stares at the place where Diz once was.

“Aw, C’mon!”

__

It takes half the day for him to figure out that Diz meant the Temple of Time, the giant abandoned building he ran right past when he woke up. Then Sora uses the slate and warps to the place he woke up in, as it’s the closest landmark there. The map calls it the ‘Shrine of Resurrection’ and that alone creeps Sora out enough that he leaves the cave sprinting. 

Whatever ‘resurrection’ means, he has a feeling he doesn’t wanna know.

Still, he can’t help but be disappointed as he walks into the empty ruins. Diz isn’t anywhere to be seen. The only things here are the husks of long dead Guardians frozen mid-climb at the temple’s steps. 

Sora shudders. The one in front of the shrine at the Abbey ruins had given him a nasty surprise, nearly taking off his head. Something had happened once it started up. The sound of the baritone ding of it activating just... froze his body. A fear that he’s never felt before seizing his throat. Feet rooted to the spot before Kairi’s voice screamed at him to run. Then it blasted a hole in the wall, right where his head had been, when he had tripped over a rock.

On one hand, it had been comforting to know Kairi was still looking out for him. On the other, the whole situation was just terrifying. She had faded again before he had the chance to thank her, after he stopped shaking.

So, yeah, never going to underestimate those guys ever again. 

Sora walks right up to the giant statue at the end of the hall. It looks simple, a mere silhouette of a woman with wings. Just for the hell of it, he waves to it, “hello!”

A light from the heavens shines down on the statue. _“Greetings, Hero.”_

“Oh geez.”

__

Sora takes a deep breath, “so let me get this straight.” He is standing on the remains of the roof to the temple with Diz, except, once again, that’s not really his name. “Your real name is Ansem. And you’re the king of hyrule?”

“I _was_ the king, I do need to be alive and have a kingdom to currently be the king.”

“...”

“...Yes, I am the king.”

“And Kairi, the voice in my head, was Princess Kairi. She’s your daughter. And she’s been holding back that evil, Ganon, for 100 years waiting for me to wake up?”

“That is correct.”

Sora throws his hands up in the air. “Why has no one else bothered to take care of it then? Kairi’s been stuck there for a century!” 

Ansem sighs, “many have tried and failed. But, it’s been foretold that only the two who inherited the will of the hero and the blood of the goddess can do away with Ganon. It is a formula that has proven itself true time and time again.”

Sora gestures to the castle with waves of dark energy flowing around it. “Are you sure about that?” Ansem stares at him. Sora waves his hand again, “are you _really_ sure about that?”

Ansem turns away as he says, “The Calamity was cunning and merciless. It devastated everything in its path, a century ago. In it’s awakening, all of the inhabitants of the castle, including myself, were felled in mere seconds.” He sighs, “Your memory is still fragile, and I did not wish to overwhelm you as soon as you had awakened. I thought it best to assume an alias until it was time to tell you. Forgive me.”

“But now... I think you are now ready, ready to hear what had happened 100 years ago.”

The king weaves a tale that actually starts over 10,000 years ago. Sora’s tempted to point out the two extra zeros before the tale catches his attention. 

“It starts back when the Sheikah were a technologically advanced civilization, who built gargantuan mechanical beasts to assist the princess of the goddess’s blood, and the hero of time in their fight against the evil that is Ganon. A champion of each race: Zora, Goron, Gerudo, and Rito were chosen to pilot these Divine Beasts. Together, alongside the Sheikah’s own mechanical army of robots called Guardians, they did away with Ganon long ago.”

The king begins pacing. “For a time, stories of Ganon had only been told in fairy-tales. Until a prophecy arose from a trusted source. It stated: ‘The signs of the resurrection of The Calamity are clear. The power to oppose it lies dormant, beneath the ground.’ We decided to heed the prophecy, and several large scale excavations sites arose. Eventually we found what we were looking for, the Divine Beasts of ages past.”

Ansem stops, once more looking into the far distance. “100 years ago, a princess had been set to inherit a sacred power, and a skilled knight at her side. It was clear we should follow in the footsteps of those who came before us. As such, Champions of each race were once more chosen to combat the evil that was foretold”

“However, the Calamity knew we would be utilizing the methods from the past. It too had learned its lesson. When the new champions were deployed to stop Ganon, their lives were forfeited as it took control of all the ancient technology, Guardians and Divine Beasts alike, razing the kingdom of Hyrule to the ground.”

“Princess Kairi’s appointed knight, the one who was the reincarnation of the hero’s soul, was able to wield the legendary sword that seals the darkness. In an effort to keep her safe, he was gravely wounded and collapsed while defending the princess.”

King Ansem turns back around, “The kingdom of Hyrule was annihilated by Calamity. However, the princess survived, to face Ganon alone. She fights--” his voice breaks, “my daughter fights on to this day waiting for her friend, her knight to wake up.”

“Oh...”

“Sora, you were her knight.”

Sora freezes, “I-- _what_?”

“You fought valiantly, until your fate took an unfortunate turn. In a desperate attempt to revive you, the princess instructed you to be taken to the Shrine of Resurrection. And here you stand, a century later. Although, it appears to have come at the cost of your memories.”

King Ansem looks at him, sadness in his gaze. “I am sorry, this burden was never meant to be yours alone. But, Kairi’s powers will soon be exhausted. Once that happens there will be no stopping the Calamity from finishing off the rest of the land.”

He hesitates, “I have no right to ask this of you, Sora...but, please, save her... my daughter.”

Sora looks at him, taking everything in, before saying, “Your Highness, do you really need to ask?” King Ansem blinks as Sora smiles, “You said it yourself, she’s my friend.” His expression turns serious. “I’ll save Kairi, you can count on that. Nothing will stop me.”

The king smiles as he starts to fade. “Thank you, Sora.” As he disappears, Sora looks past him to the castle in the distance.

“Just give me some time Kairi, I’ll get you out.”

A moment later he is reappearing on the plateau tower, looming over the walls isolating him from the rest of the world. From the slate’s inventory, Sora materializes the paraglider in his hand.

With a running jump, he throws himself off the ledge of the tower, then snaps the glider open. As it catches in the air currents a laugh escapes Sora. He’s dangling hundreds of feet up in the air, this is definitely gonna take a toll on his stamina, but- “This is awesome!” He hollers out into the sky. Another laugh follows, then. “Hyrule, here I come!”

__

The stable manager was not appreciating his horse’s name, if the dead-eyed look and fake smile was anything to go off of. Meow-Wow, the blue and white speckled horse he was now sitting atop of, had trotted right up to Sora when he had paused to eat an apple on the other side of the dueling peaks. 

“Would you like to take your newly registered horse with you, Sir?”

“Actually, can I switch him out for Highwind?”

The smile twitches, “right away.”

Sora slides off, patting Meow-wow’s flank as another stable hand swaps him out for the chestnut colored beauty with a white snout he had initially caught. As nice as Meow-wow is, he wasn’t very fast and too gentle for the trek up to Kakariko Village. On the other hand, Highwind is a proper lady, who seems to have plenty of speed and endurance. She could make the journey just fine. The new horse snorts as Sora walks up, another apple in hand. 

“Easy there girl,” he coos as she sniffs then nibbles on the treat out of his palm. She looks at Sora when she’s done eating, nudging his hand against her nose. Sora smiles, then mounts up on her saddle. 

“Yah!”

She takes off at sprint down the beaten path. The stable hands are yelling something awful behind Sora, but he pays them no mind as his laughter lingers in Highwind’s dust clouds.

__

After that little stint with the talking tree, sorry, the korok spirit Hetsu, Sora had been starting to wonder if he was ever going to get to Kakariko.

The wooden archways built in between the two cliff faces are his first indication that he’s close. Towering cliff faces of the pillar shaped mountains made for a narrow trek between two new towering highlands. The next sign is the musical sounds coming from red, wooden charms dangling in the breeze. The little old lady who was very clearly not a hylian sitting beside a fire just inside the gate was the third. 

Sora dismounts, “Excuse me, Ma’am? Would this be Kakariko village?”

Her voice croaks as she looks up, hand rubbing at her ankle. “Why yes, welcome young traveler.”

Sora’s gaze flits to her ankle, “Are you alright?”

“Oh, it’s nothing dear, I took a bit of a tumble in all of that shaking a few days ago. Still, this is the best view of my plum tree garden.” She laughs to herself, “Ah, My poor husband will scold me again.”

Sora squats down next to her. “I may not be able to treat that, but I can put you on my horse and lead you home?”

The old woman’s eyes shine, “well now, thank you for your kindness traveler. My name is Nanna.” Sora scoops her up in his arms, setting her down side saddle on top of Highwind. “Oh, the name’s Sora, Ma’am.”

“Then thank you, Sora-” she cuts off. “Say, Sora? Where did you get that object on your hip?”

“Oh, well you see...” Sora launches into a short explanation of waking up in the shrine a few days ago. 

The older woman nods when he is done. “Yes, of course. That Sheikah slate is a symbol. It means you are the hero of legend.” She chuckles, “though there are few now who know of such legends though. Oh, my husband is going to have a time when I tell him who helped me today.”

“Er, sorry?”

She laughs, “oh no dear, it is my pleasure.” Sora starts to lead Highwind by the reins, slowly down the hill into the main village. “My house is just over yonder, you see? Ah, once you drop me off, I must insist that you stop and see the leader of our village, Lady Ava.”

“Lady Ava?”

“Yes, she has been waiting a long time for your return.” Another minute or so passes until they come to a stop in front of the house. 

Nanna once again smiles, “Thank you for your help Sora. You’ll find Lady Ava in the big house, in the middle of town.”

Once she enters her home, Sora turns back around rubbing at the back of his head. Looking around the village, it appears to be a small rural settlement. Nothing technological about it. All of the Sheikah are easily identifiable with their white hair, straw hats, and strange garb. Each person seems to be wearing the same alteration of tan pants or skirt with a puffy sleeved waistcoat decorated in red trimmings, and a navy blue sleeveless high neck underneath. Some of the older people seem to have wrist bracers on. A child that goes sprinting down the path, yelling about tag, isn’t wearing braces or a hat though.

Sora sighs, that entire conversation wasn’t exactly motivating.

Then a glowing glint of orange that can only be from a shrine catches his eye, up along the pathway overlooking the village.

Well, if Lady Ava has already waited this long.

__

The shrine doesn’t take very long to complete. It was basic training on how to fight, really not so much a puzzle. But, it was all things his body already knew from muscle memory and had already performed during skirmishes on the way to the village. Blocking with his shield, deflecting blows, dodge rolling, side hoping, blitz attacks, flurry rushes-- it was all something he had done before... just didn’t have a name for.

It’s a little frustrating, to realize that he doesn’t remember something that he very clearly used to know. It’s probably why he doesn’t think twice about jumping off the ledge of the cliff face to paraglide over the village, right to the doorstep of the big house in the center of town.

“HEY!”

Uh-oh.

Sora turns back around, two sheikah men are sprinting up the steps to him, swords drawn.

“How dare you Hylian!”

“That is trespassing at Lady Ava’s home!!”

Sora immediately throws both his hands up in the air, “Sorry! Nanna sent me- please don't stab me!”

The men pause as one goes, “my wife?” at the same time the other questions, “a sheikah slate?”

Behind Sora, the sudden sound of wood slamming into wood makes all three of them flinch.

A young man’s voice calls out, “What’s going on out here!?” 

The two guards immediately stand at attention, shouting simultaneously, “Master Riku!”

Very slowly, Sora turns around, hands still up in the air. 

The young man stands behind him, long silver hair tied up in a bun with two sticks holding it in place. He wears the same outfit as the rest of the clan, but his eyes are different. They’re a captivating iridescent green, lit up with annoyance, that quickly shifts into shock as Sora turns around.

They stare at each other.

Sora weakly waves a still raised hand at him, “H-Hi there?”

“We’ve been expecting you, Sora.” Comes another voice, from inside the house. Sora peers around the young master, who jolts back to life at the sound of it. Seated in the center of the room is an older sheikah woman, donning a half face fox mask in the tribe colors. Her smile is soft as she says, “it is good to see you again. I am much older now, but you remember me... don’t you?”

Sora falters for a second, putting down his arms, looking down then back to Lady Ava, who now frowns. It’s not an angry frown, but a sad one as she quietly says, “Oh.”

Sora takes a breath, but Lady Ava holds up a hand.

“There is no need to say anything. I can see it in your eyes... they lack the light of familiarity.” She smiles again, but there is no hiding the sorrow in her voice. “We knew the risks of putting you in the shrine, Sora. While I am glad to see you standing before us...I’m sorry it has turned out this way.” Sora gets a weird feeling that the last part isn’t directed at him, but she continues. “Please come inside. We have much to discuss.”

The young master guy closes the door behind Sora, staying outside of the room.

Lady Ava frowns again but sighs it away as she asks, “Tell me, Sora. What is it that you remember?”

“Only what I've heard rumors of. That I fell in battle, a good hundred years ago when the Calamity came back.”

“Hmm, that is true. After you fell, it was Princess Kairi’s wish that you be placed in a sacred slumber. Before she left to face ganon alone, she shared with me a message to pass on to you.”

Sora blinks twice, “she did?”

“Yes. However, the princess risked her life to leave you these words. I must know, are you prepared to risk yours in turn? I’m afraid the burden will be too much without your memories. I cannot pass them on to someone who lacks conviction.”

Sora shakes his head, “I am always ready to help my friends. No matter what.”

The familiar warmth is back, _[You’re sweet Sora.]_ Kairi’s voice chimes in his head.

Sora rubs the back of his head again, a little embarrassed, as Lady Ava laughs. “Ha! Not a memory to your name, but still ready as ever to help those who need you. You have not changed a bit, Sora.” 

Kairi laughs as well, _[Once a hero, always a hero.]_

Together the two women say, _“free the four divine beasts.”_

Lady Ava continues, “That was the princess’s message. A champion of old piloted each one. Divine Beast Vah Rudania, controlled by Terra of the Gorons. Vah Medoh, controlled by Ventus of the Rito. Then Vah Ruta wielded under Aqua of the Zora. Finally, Vah Naboris, who Vanitas of the Gerudo piloted.” She nods, “It would be ill-advised to try to attack Ganon without the aid of our ancestors.”

 _[Also, the spirits of the champions may be trapped from within.]_ Kairi adds, _[Even if they aren't, it wouldn’t hurt to free the machines from Ganon’s control.]_

Sora nods at this, and while Lady Ava nods back to him, he stops to think. _Should I tell her about you?_

He feels Kairi hesitate before she says with conviction, _[No. I’m going to see her again, I’ll tell her myself.]_

Sora can’t help but grin at that. _Understood, your highness._ He can feel Kairi smile too as she fades away once more.

“It seems to me that your Sheikah slate is in need of repair. That device is the key to your success, but also your memories.”

That catches Soras attention. “My memories?”

“Yes, you will see. I believe that someone at the research lab in Hateno village would be able to fix it. It is a small village, but peaceful as it is one of the few places that escaped the calamity’s wrath. Go there next, then return to me once it is complete.” Lady Ava stands, “there is one more thing, Sora.”

“What’s up?” he questions as she walks to the doors, throwing them open. A sly smile dances on her lips as she grabs the startled looking young master from before, who was standing outside the door.

“I would like Master Riku to accompany you on your travels.”

Riku’s eyebrows fly high as Sora goes, “huh?”

“Lady Ava, what are you saying? It is my job to protect you.”

“And I’m perfectly safe,” she pat’s Riku’s arm in a placeting way that does nothing to loosen the sudden tension in his shoulders. “Besides, Sora here just woke up from a century of slumber. He knows nothing about the current social climate of the world or where everything is in Hyrule. He needs a guide dear, and you, with your title of ‘master’ are the most accomplished Sheikah from the village.” She pauses, “that isn’t too old to travel.”

“Lady Ava, I must insist-”

“Go stay the night at the Inn, Sora dear. Tell them I sent you.” She all but drags Riku back into the house, “Come Riku, we must get you ready for your travels-”, “-I'm not-”, “He’ll meet you at first light, Sora!”

The door slams closed behind them.

“...Alright?”

The two guardsmen start frantically apologizing before Sora even reaches the bottom of the stairs. He waves off their apologies, saying something about them being good at their job, which makes them both puff with pride, until one meekly thanks Sora for escorting his injured wife home.

Sora accepts that one before going off to check out the shops in town. He sells some of the ore he collected off the Dueling Peak mountains to gain some rupees to buy stuff. It’s just enough to purchase the traveler's cloak and adventurer’s garb along with some arrows and a few food items. The garb is much more sturdy than the warm doublet, and the chain mail under it certainly makes him feel safer.

He spends the day somehow getting roped into helping out a villager hunt down his cuccos. He hits a snag when one of them wanders into Nanna’s plum tree garden, but after getting her permission to wander in, he quickly takes that little birdie home. 

In the evening, two little sisters watch with awe as he makes some candies out of honey at the village outdoor kitchen. In exchange, one of them shares with him a bowl of pumpkin stew and some honey-glazed apples. When he takes a bite and exclaims at how delicious the food is, it really is yummy, the other sister gives him the recipes so he can recreate them.

Somehow, Sora wakes up with the sun. But honestly, he’s just impressed that he slept. It’s something he’s noticed ever since he’s woken up— he doesn’t get sleepy. Sure, there are times he needs to rest due to exhaustion or lack of stamina... but not once has he ever actually gotten sleep-tired. He frowns to himself, pulling the chainmail over the long sleeve undershirt before sliding over the red knit tunic.

As Sora steps out of the inn he finds that Riku and Lady Ava are already outside. Lady Ava is holding Highwind’s reins, while Riku has one that belongs to a jet black mare standing proudly beside him. 

Lady Ava is speaking to Riku, “-don’t fret, Braveheart will look after you well, Riku.” Riku looks up at the horse, who looks over at Riku. They hold eye contact with each other until it snorts in his face, causing him to cough.

Sora laughs, “oh she got you good.”

Riku glares as Lady Ava smiles his way, “Sora dear, did you rest well?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Now remember you two,” She continues as they mount up. “Just to Hateno and back. There’s more I must tell you once the slate is fully operational, Sora.”

Sora sighs, “can’t you just tell me now?”

Lady Ava laughs as she walks away, back towards her home.

Sora then looks to Riku, who is glaring at the back of his horse’s head. “Braveheart is a good name. She looks cool.”

“She’s not mine.” Riku kicks Braveheart into a trot.

“Oh,” Sora’s horse starts walking as well, keeping pace just behind him as they leave Kakariko. “So,” he tries again. “Hateno Village, yeah?”

Riku whips the reins into a run. Sora’s mouth clicks shut before he sighs at the now distant figure. 

“This is gonna be a long trip.”


	2. Hateno Village

To say the ride to Hateno was awkward was putting it lightly. 

Sora didn't bother to try to make conversation with Riku again, as the other guy just wasn't having it. The only times he spoke were when he yelled at Sora for charging his horse at a lizalfos on the side of the road and when he scolded Sora for recklessly throwing himself into a fight when Bokoblins were attacking two women. 

Sora ignores his griping, rolling his eyes. Unfortunately, this only serves to make Riku even pissier.

"Aren't you _too_ eager to battle?"

Sora scoffs, "isn't saving people part of the gig?" He cuts Riku off, whistling for Highwind. When he hears her answering neigh, Sora continues. "Lighten up a bit, will ya Riku?"

Riku's words are full of venom as he spits, "you're not taking this seriously. Think about your duty!"

Sora sighs, leaping up onto Highwind as she comes closer, immediately snapping her reins to lead her into a sprint. He hears Riku shout behind him before coughing on her dust clouds.

He makes it to Hateno Village alone. It’s a quaint little rural town with a sleepy atmosphere, where cobblestone paths lead the way between terra-cotta homes. Windmills slowly turn in the sturdy breeze. Apple Trees dot the pathway leading into a marketplace.

A warm presence suddenly fills him. 

_[Wow, talk about cottage-core,]_ Kairi’s voice offers. Soria has to cover a laugh with a cough. Two mothers are gossiping near some pottery glare his way.

_Too cozy for you, Kairi?_

_[No, no, I like it! What about you, Sora?]_

_Hmm, I like the vibe of the town too! But it feels like it’s missing something._

_[Like what?]_

_I dunno._ Sora can feel Kairi start to fade, so he thinks, _I’ll let you know if I think of it next time._

Before she completely fades, he hears a soft _[Mhmm!]_

For a while there, Sora explores the village looking for the resident Sheikah researcher Lady Ava mentioned. After twenty minutes or so of window shopping, Sora wonders if Riku turned back around for Kakariko. There is no sign of any Sheikah, Riku included, as he makes his way through the quiet tiny settlement.

Sora is finally redirected by locals to a hill overlooking the town, a few telling him about the odd Sheikah living up there. After stopping to activate the warp on the town's shrine, Sora heads up the slope. 

He leaves Highwind out in front of the house, has a sudden and vivid recollection of getting yelled at in front of Lady Ava's house, then knocks twice before entering.

"Hello?"

Two of the three occupants in the room look at him. The giant, burly Sheikah men in the back of the room make Sora so incredibly glad he knocked first. A small child, with pale hair, swept over her shoulder, sits at the table in the middle of the room, her feet dangling as she concentrates on her drawing in front of her. 

"Can we help you?" Asks the one with combed-back hair. His companion with the dreadlocks idly puts a book back on the shelf, right next to where a wicked-looking spear rests.

Sora swallows around a lump in his throat. "L-lady Ava sent me. She told me one of you could repair my Sheikah slate."

Both of the men's eyes go wide as the little girl freezes. She looks up, blinking once, before gasping in delight, "Sora!" She leaps off the bench before sprinting over to him, tiny arms wrapping around him in a hug. "You're back! Oh, I'm so happy you're back."

She lets go before Sora can decide to hug her back or not, her smile sad. "I know you don't remember me; even if you did, you wouldn't remember me as I look now. Still, please know I'm so glad to have you back with us." She takes a step back and performs a little curtsy. "I am Namine, leading Sheikah expert on guidance stone research." She smiles, "these two are my assistants and guardsmen, Aeleus and Dilan."

Sora just stares at her, "Expert!? But you're so tiny!"

She laughs, pushing her fingertips together as she speaks. "I am actually older than you, Sora. Part of my research was investigating a de-aging Rune. One would say my experiment was successful." She does a little twirl. Sora claps in encouragement, coaxing another laugh out of her while both of the guards in the back finally relax, getting back to their discussion.

He cocks his head to the side, “did you miss being a child or something?”

She shakes her head, “No, actually, physically, I’m fourteen. I meant to aim for my early 20’s instead. Unfortunately, there's no way to fast forward the process of aging.” She pauses, “that I’ve discovered, that is.”

“Right.” She smiles at him in a way that lets him know she’s aware some of what she said just went over his head.

“I dunno if I’d like being a kid again-”, “-I’m a teenager-”, “-a child-”, “-fourteen-”, “and a shorty too!”

“Sora,” there’s a warning in Namine’s voice that finally makes Sora crack, a laugh splitting his expression into a smile. She blinks before collapsing into giggles, “are you teasing me?”

“Sorry, only a little.” He scratches at his cheek, corners of his lips still pointed upwards. “I'll stop if you want me to. I only meant it in good fun.”

She quickly waves her hands, “Oh no, no! It just took me by surprise.”

Sora puts a hand to his heart, puffing up his chest. “Well, call me a mushroom because I’m always a fun guy.”

There’s both a snort and a groan from the men in the back. Namine’s eyes are twinkling in delight as she laughs.

Sora knocks a few more puns out, just for funnies. All that ‘no talking’ had been killing him. Before long, he gets them back on track. "So, uh, Namine? What did you mean by a ‘rune’?"

"Oh, right, yes! I mean the symbols that provide different functions to your Sheikah slate. You see?" Sora brings out the tablet, and they both look at the runes he gathered while on the plateau. 

Namine frowns, then hums. "I see what Lady Ava meant; the camera rune on your tablet is missing, as are the stored photos." She sighs, “unfortunately, the ancient blue flame used to heat the furnace has gone out." 

“The what now?”

“The ancient flame powers the guidance stone I’ve personally developed. We’ve been _meaning_ to light it again.” She doesn’t say their names, but the men in the back room are suddenly looking anywhere but in their direction. 

“Is it somewhere nearby? I can fetch it.” Sora offers.

Namine smiles in delight. 

—

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Sora screams at the sky as it begins raining for the umpteenth time. It’s been a little over 3 hours since he’s started this stupid quest. One time he ran too fast, and the fire went out, another it started raining just as he finished crossing a significant distance to the next torch around the village. Now it was raining again, and he’s only just lit the beacons throughout the town.

He still has to make it up the hill— oh sweet Hylia.

With a grumble, he tucks away the damp torch that he had been using to carry the flame, drawing up his hood. The locals have scattered once the rain began. He’s the only one still in the village square. Sora moseys on over to the horse stalls, pausing to pick a couple of apples off the trees near him. Highwind stomps her front hoof as he gets closer-- aaaand, damn. The black horse next to her is Braveheart.

Sora sighs, taking off his hood. So much for hoping what’s-his-face had left.

He gives Braveheart a pat on her nose over the separation fence from Highwind’s side as well as an apple. Just because Riku was rude doesn’t mean it’s okay to ignore his horse. Once she is done eating, he’s moving to do the same to his horse, who immediately moves her head towards the apples that are cradling in the lower cloth of his tunic.

“Ah, ah, ah.” Sora gently but firmly pushes her head back with his free hand. “You know better than that, Highwind.”

There’s a sudden sound of choking and coughing in the next stall. Sora jumps, immediately looking for the source. Peering over the separating fence, he sees Riku coughing on a rice ball, sitting on the ground in Braveheart’s stall.

He thumps his chest with a fist a few times before swallowing a mouth full of air.

Sora stares at him, “You good there, Riku?”

Riku glares through shining eyes, and Sora slowly sinks back down the side of the fence. He mimics Riku, sitting cross-legged, resting his back against the partition. Most of the apples get shoved into the slate’s storage, disappearing into blue light. Sora rolls one on the ground towards Highwind’s head, who eagerly goes for it. With a sharp crunch, Sora bites into his own.

The sound of rain pitter-pattering on the roof of the stalls and his chewing is all he hears for several minutes. Sora throws the core of the apple into a corner of the booth. He has one more apple on hand, tosses it up in the air, and catches it. 

Turning over the fruit in his hands, Sora softly says, “Hey, Riku?”

There’s a hum, so faint of a response that if the sound didn’t come from an area just by his ear, Sora might not have heard it over the sounds of the rain through the wood of the fence.

“Heads up,” Sora tosses the apple up in the air. Seconds later, there is the sound of a mellowed thump. He waits a beat, maybe a minute or so before there is an echo of an apple being bitten.

Sora smiles to himself. 

It takes another thirty minutes or so for the rain to finally subside.

When Sora and Riku quietly make it up the hill to the laboratory, it’s firmly in evening territory. As soon as Sora lights the blue flame, the furnace glows back to life, a warp pad like the shines activated.

He falls to his knees, “finally!” 

The door opens, Namine peering out from around the corner.

“Oh, thank goodness, I was worried about you, Sora.” She glances up, “Hi Riku. We have supper ready on the table if you both would like some.”

Sora hops right back up to his feet, “Oh man, really? Thanks, Namine!”

After a hearty meal, Riku wanders off to look at the books in Namine’s collection while Aeleus and Dilan step outside to train. As Namine distills a new rune into his slate, Sora sees Riku wander up the stairs and out of sight, the floorboards creaking above his head.

There's a tug on his sleeve. Namine brings a finger to her lips, looks pointedly up to the floorboards, and beacons Sora closer. He crouches down to Namine’s level as she whispers. “Is Riku okay?”

Sora grimaces, “I don’t think he likes me very much.”

Namine reels back, “What?” She hisses, “but Riku— he gets along with everyone.”

He knows she means nothing by it, but it still stings a bit, so Sora just rubs at the back of his head. “Guess I'm the exception.” The floorboards upstairs creak again.

She pouts, “what has he said to you?”

“That's the thing,” Sora whispers back. “He doesn’t talk to me. It’s a hard shutdown every time I try. Kinda rude, if I’m being honest.”

Namine stares at him for a moment longer. Then the slate chimes from its place in the guidance stone pedestal that it’s done updating. She stands in place for a good minute there, then walks over, plucking the slate from its spot. Frowning down at it, Namine speaks at full volume.

“Sora?”

“Yeah?”

“... Do you want your memories back?” 

The lab is silent.

“Whaddya mean?”

“I, I just,” a look of frustration crosses her face. “I knew you; I _met_ you after you were discovered to be the hero. And you were... different back then.” She looks up at him, “before today, all those years ago... I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so talkative, so happy.” Sora takes that in as she continues. “I think that, ironically enough, you're actually yourself without the burden of the past weighing you down.” 

She takes a deep breath, “are you, well, would these memories be worth it to you? Do you think you need them to defeat Ganon? Personally?”

Before he can speak, she blurts one more question. “Even if they come at the cost of your own happiness?”

They stare at each other as he thinks about it. But, ultimately, he already knows the answer. It’s the same one he probably picked all those years ago. Sora licks his lips as he speaks, “Happiness or not; it’s my duty. Isn’t it?”

Namine’s expression shatters. 

It makes him feel awful; Sora doesn’t hesitate this time as she runs towards him, opening his arms in time for her to wrap her arms around his neck. The slate smacks his back in her tiny hands, but he hugs her tight all the same.

She sniffles voice breaking as she whimpers, “Oh, Sora.” 

He holds her a little tighter as he says, “Thank you, Namine.”

Tears damp his neck, “B-but, I,” she gasps, “I didn’t do anything.”

Sora shakes his head, “Not true.” He smiles to himself. “You care, and that’s enough for me.”

They stay like that for a bit, Sora patting her back as she quietly lets out all her tears, sorrow, and frustration on his behalf.

When Namine finally pulls away, her eyes are puffy, her nose is red, but her expression is determined. “If that’s your choice, then I’ll be here to support you.”

Sora pats her head, once more saying, “Thank you, Namine.”

They stay up late together. Namine covers how she can use her research to upgrade his Runes. Then a demonstration on how to use the camera rune devolves into giggles and silly poses. In one photo, the two of them are flashing peace signs and big grins at the camera, which Sora instantly loves.

Namine takes back the tablet, switching over the camera from photo mode to gallery. Excluding their pictures, there are already twelve other photos in it.

“These were taken by the princess when she was the one utilizing the slate.” She hands it back to Sora, “If I remember correctly, you were present for each one. Perhaps, if you found the locations, you can retrieve your memories of certain events.”

__

When Sora and Riku depart the next morning, it's gray and overcast. The ride back to Kakariko village once more silent.

Lady Ava welcomes Sora back with open arms. “I heard Namine was giving you a hard time. But you seem just fine to me!” Sora glances at Riku, who stays in the room this time as he closes the doors behind them.

“She told you her theory on how going to the locations might unlock your memories, yes?”

Sora nods.

“One of those photos is of Lanayru Gate, just north of here. Perhaps you should test it out first?”

__

Sora goes, this time on his own. He treks through ancient ruins built along a waterway- an old pilgrimage route Sheikah used to follow to worship at the spring of wisdom, built atop the far snowy peak of the towering mountain. 

Monsters now roam the pathways. Sora fights his way through enemy encampments until he can longer carry any of their dropped weapons.

When he finally reaches the gate, it’s a little before sunset. He stands before the structure, waiting for something. Kairi’s voice, perhaps? A dropped item to catch his eye?

Nothing happens.

Sora sighs, digging out the slate from its holder. Opening up the photo, he looks between the image and the archway before him.

“I mean, it looks the same...”

Something tickles at the back of his mind. Sora squints a bit, tilting his head. Then—

__

_Kairi walks before him, in her ceremonial dress, still dripping water at its hem from standing in the spring and walking through the snow during their descent. The champions, all wearing their blue garb, anxiously wait under the gate’s archway._

_Terra eagerly walks forward, comically lanky for a Goron but still broadly towering over them all. “Well? How did it go up there on the mountain?” Kairi stares at the ground, expression bleak. The four look to Sora, who shakes his head._

_Ven picks at his feathers, “so you didn’t feel anything? No power at all?”_

_Now Kairi shakes her head, “I’m sorry.” Her voice is faint, but the disappointment and sorrow ring clear enough._

_Aqua steps forward, decorative Zora jewelry jingling with the movement, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Then let's move on.” She bends down a bit, so her face is in the princess’s sight, expression gentle. “You’ve done all you could here. Besides, it’s not like your last hope was up on Mount Lanayru.” Terra and Ven nod encouragingly as Aqua continues, “anything could finally spark that power that is needed to seal Ganon away. We just have to keep looking.”_

_Kairi sighs, “That... is kind of you to say.”_

_Vanitas shifts on his feet, the male Gerudo is looking incredibly uncomfortable as he runs a hand through his stark black hair. “Uh, want my advice?”_

_Terra and Aqua’s expressions shift from concern to weary and annoyed, respectively. Sora and Ventus hold two thumbs up in the back as Kairi finally looks up, surprise flitting across her face._

_Vanitas sighs as though he’s been put on. “I wasn’t able to, you know, do my lightning thing until something happened.”_

_Kairi leans forward, “something sparked it?”_

_Vanitas’ eyes flick to Sora and back to the princess. “Yeahhhhh.” Aqua’s eyes narrow. He stops and groans. “Look, it’s embarrassing, okay. When it first happened, the only thing on my mind was—”_

_The earth suddenly tremors violently._

_As everyone struggles to keep their footing, Ven launches himself up into the air, golden feathers shining in the sunlight. His voice is panicked as he shouts, “Guys-!”_

_An unholy screech cuts through the air, clouds of darkness rising in the distance. Ven touches back down as the tremors halt, saying what they all already know._

_“It’s here.”_

_Kairi takes a step back, muttering, “no, no, no-”_

_Terra whirls to everyone, “We can’t afford to waste time. We’re going to need everything we’ve got to take Ganon down.”_

_Aqua nods, declaring, “Champions! To your Divine Beasts!!”_

_Vanitas looks to Sora, “We’ll clear a path for you, my friend, get to the castle.”_

_Terra scoffs under his breath as Ven nods at Vanitas’s words, “This needs to be a unified assault for this to work, so leave protecting the kingdom to us!”_

_Vanitas puts his hand on Sora’s shoulder, “It’s up to you to defeat Ganon.” His grip tightens for a moment before he lets go at Sora’s agreement. The master sword feels heavy on his back._

_Aqua walks up to Kairi, “Come, we should go. We have to get you somewhere safe.”_

_Tears well up in the princess’s eyes as she shakes her head. “No! There must be something,” her voice turns pleading, “anything that I can do to help!”_

_Suddenly, no one can meet her eye._

_Everyone there knows, without her sealing powers, there’s nothing she can do._

_In the distance, the Calamity churns._

__

Sora stumbles back with a sharp gasp.

Not a second has passed in real-time, but that’s not where his mind is. He knows this place. He knows what happened here, and, those people, they all...

He... he needs some time to think. 

Sora looks to his right, sees the cliff, then just scales the walls leading up to the gate. It takes some time; he has to pause to catch his breath here and there. It’s a relief to make it to the top and find it empty, just a grassy mesa.

He shoots a crane that is standing in the distance. 

Clearing an area of tall grass, Sora pulls out some wood and flint from the slate’s inventory. Smoke soon rises from a small campfire; he loses himself in the process of cleaning the bird to roast. Several feathers are saved to sell, meat portioned out, and others set near the fire to cook.

Sora stares into the flames as the light of day disappears, chasing after the long set sun. 

The clouds slowly drift away, leaving the light of the moon to shine in the night. After some time has passed, he picks up a drumstick that has turned a golden brown. Teeth sinking into the meat, ignoring the heat, his only thought is that it needs a little salt.

Sora glances up at Mount Lanayru-- and freezes mid-chew.

There’s something on the Mountain.

During the day, there had been cloud cover preventing him from seeing the peak. Now, with the clouds gone and the moon high, he can very clearly see something entwined around the top of the mountain. Where he now knows the spring of wisdom resides, another place he had gone to with the princess.

Sora stands upright, kicking dirt onto the fire.

No time like the present.

__

Mount Lanaryu is fucking cold.

That warm doublet the king gave him? Yeah, well, so much for royal quality! While wearing it provides some protection, it wasn’t enough for the bone-chilling cold. He got lucky, still having peppers picked from the plateau and stumbling on more before he goes too far into the snow.

The monsters on the mountain path are nothing to scoff at either. Sora quickly exhausts the weaponry he picked up just hours ago. On the plus side, the new ones he gets are more durable and so much stronger. The downside, he has to dodge perfectly to avoid getting skewered. It’s slow going in the snow; he knocks down trees every now and then, making a fire to wait out the snow falls when it gets to be blinding. 

It takes time to make it to the top. Sora isn’t sure how long, but it’s enough that his absence was probably noted.

Then he sees purple scales, all thoughts flying out of his mind as Sora forces himself to sprint up the last part of the trail to the summit. A sizeable scaly figure is entwined around spears of ice jutting from the ground, long talons scraping into the frozen crystal. The air is faint up here, but his breath leaves him when he reaches the top, not from exhaustion but in awe.

It’s not a snake.

It’s a Dragon. Purple and black scales of its serpentine body shimmer in the light of day, odd growths jutting from its form, black puffs of smoke being exhaled. What could be its horns almost seem to be crystals themselves, pulsing with light every few seconds. It’s magnificent, but it also... it looks _wrong_. 

It rests, curled around a pool of water with several collapsed stone pillars and chipped stepping stones. In the center of it, a Goddess statue beckons him.

 _“You’ve done well to find your way to this spring, Hero_.” It is always the same voice that comes from the Goddess statues. He doesn’t quite believe that it is Hylia herself, but she speaks through a power that feels similar to Kairi’s, who supposedly has the soul of the goddess— so, who knows.

_“The one you see before you is the attendant of the Spring of Wisdom. This is Naydra, the blue spirit of lanayru. As a servant of the goddess, they have looked after the spirits of the land for ages, unknown to the world of man.”_

_“However, the malice unleashed by Ganon has infected its body.”_

The growths twitch, then just as suddenly splits. An eye, black yet with a yellow, purple, looks around madly. It’s disgusting, grotesque-

The Dragon wheezes out even more black poison. It needs help.

Sora reaches for his bow. _“You, who have claimed spirit orbs.”_ He draws an arrow from the quiver. _“Free Naydra from this malice.”_ Aiming it at the eye, he pulls back the string. 

_“Show what power you can achieve!”_

The arrow sings.

__

Riku is pacing on the front porch, Lady Ava watching him walk from corner to corner. She must spot him first, gliding in from the shrine, as Riku’s figure suddenly stops looking up to the sky.

Sora doesn’t even get a word in as he lands before Riku yells.

“Where have you been!?”

Sora points to the flame spear strapped to his back. “I climbed Lanayru.”

Riku’s eyes bulge, “you wha- but you were only supposed to go to the gate!”

“I did,” Sora nods. “And once I remembered that Kairi and I went to the spring of wisdom, I went there too.”

Lady Ava leans forward, “You remembered something?”

“At the gate, yeah! Not at the spring.” 

“The spring of wisdom?” Riku wheezes out.

Sora nods, then stops to think, “I did get to meet a dragon up there, though!” Riku chokes on air. Sora nods again, this time to himself, “so I’d say it was worth it.”

They stare at him.

“Oh, I also got this sweet flame spear!” He takes it off his back, jabbing it up into the air. Flames spout out, the blade turning from red to silver as it rapidly cools. The runes carved into the metal slowly glow orange before the tip is once more radiating heat.

Sora grins, “cool, right?”

Lady Ava says nothing, just puts a hand on Riku’s shoulder, who looks like he’s having a minor crisis. She squeezes his shoulder as she says, “Sora, dear, make sure to listen to Riku; as he guides you.”

Sora pouts.

“Come now. We still have much to discuss.” As Lady Ava reaches her usual spot, she does not sit down. Her back to Sora and Riku, she speaks. “Now that you have seen some of the past, I suppose it’s only a matter of time before you begin to recall other things. Or even stumble on other memories.” She turns back around, a wrapped parcel now in her hands. Moving towards Sora, she smiles.

“I’ve been holding onto this for some time. It’s best if you take back what is yours.”

Sora accepts the package, peeling the ancient parchment back. Riku’s breathing stops as a shock of bright blue, a now very familiar blue, is exposed.

“Lady Ava...”

The paper falls to the ground as Sora shakes out his old Champions tunic. The white undershirt remains crisp, the straight stitching of the master sword’s silhouette knit around the v-neck plunge. The material is soft to the touch, well worn but maintained.

Just like he remembers.

Sora looks to Lady Ava, “Thank you.”

She tilts her head, “are certain you’re ready, hero?”

Sora thinks back to Champions he once knew. To Nadrya, poisoned but now free in the skies. The peaceful village of Hateno, in contrast to the ruins he rode past to get to Kakriko. 

With determination on his face, Sora nods. “Hyrule needs me.”

Lady Ava smiles, “Then go forth and bring peace to Hyrule.”


	3. Zora's Domain

Lady Ava had suggested that Sora go to Zora's Domain first, so that's where they were headed. Within a day and a half of travel, the two of them reach the riverside stable with little to no issues. The stable was on the outskirts of the Zora’s Domain, a region of Hyrule built into a mountain range of luminous stone that was chock full of waterfalls and ravines. The water from the domain fed into Lake Hylia, in the middle of Hyrule, and other connecting rivers across the land.

Horses cannot make the trek far into the domain, due to steep cliff faces on the pathway up. The stable system has a policy of looking after horses regardless of the time they are boarded for, thank Hylia, so the plan was to leave Braveheart and Highwind there. At least, that’s what Riku had told him. 

Okay, so Riku talks a little more now— actual responses to questions and observations. But it's still not a pleasant conversation, and most of the time, it's stilted. Despite getting actual responses, it feels just as stuffy as before. 

And! There's another slight hitch now!

Ever since his brief two-day expedition of Mount Lanayru— and it was only two days! No biggie! Yet, Riku won't let Sora out of his sight. He constantly drags him back to the path, even when Sora spots herbs or mushrooms to forge. Riku just keeps him on Highwind, urging him forward. The only acceptable detours being shrines. Which is stupid because Riku doesn’t have a tablet, so they can’t even use the warping to go places...

Wait.

Oh- _damn,_ that’s a good idea.

Sora tries to smother down his grin, but Riku shoots him an odd look as they travel. When he asks, Sora just mentions how nice it will be to sleep in a bed. Riku stares at him for a second longer.

“...Do you not like sleeping on the open road?”

“Well, I don’t mind it! But who can say no to a nice bed?”

Riku just hums, his expression closing off. “That’s fair.” Sora can’t help but sigh to himself as Riku takes the lead, his horse trotting in front of him now. Staring at Riku’s back, he nods to himself and decides to launch his impromptu plan once they reach the stable.

By the way, has anyone talked about how super convenient stables are? Because, like, they’re super nice, okay. They board horses for you, provide a bed for the night, directions— there’s also peddlers at most of them! Sora immediately feels a kinship with this one guy, Beedle, who has a giant beetle-shaped backpack. 

That’s some clever marketing right there!! 

The merchant is even impressed with Sora’s haggling skills— like, who knew that was a skill he had? Not him! They stay up late into the night talking about how it is to be a trader in the post-apocalypse, y’know that whole supply and demand thing?

The stable hands board their horses for the night, Sora completes the shrine just outside of it, and separately they make their dinners. 

Soon enough, it's closer to evening, and unlike Sora, Riku gets sleepy. Sora faked it once, just because when it came time to settle down on their first night into traveling, Riku had started giving him worried looks. 

As Riku starts to doze off from the fire’s warmth, Sora perks up mid-conversation with Beedle. After the Sheikah crawls into a bed, Sora waits for a beat before walking out to the horse's stalls. He pats Highwind a few times, grabbing items off her saddle and shoving them into the slate's inventory. Giving her carrot as a quick apology, he rubs at her snout... then guilty gives a carrot to Braveheart as well. It feels wrong to leave Highwind behind, but he just cannot travel with this dude. Sora can't shake the feeling that if he tried to take off on horseback, Riku would find him easily.

He glances once, twice, over his shoulder. No one is there. Quickly walking a few feet away from the stables, Sora activates the Sheikah slate, picks a close enough shrine, and warps away.

The second he rematerializes from blue light, Sora can feel the relief loosen tension along his back. Spreading his arms wide, he takes a big gulp of the crisp night air bracing his freedom. After pulling weapons and a shield from his inventory, not to mention a quick consult with the map for direction, he’s ready. Sora grins, stepping off the platform.

Then a skeletal hand bursts from the ground.

He does not scream, thank you. Still, shit, forgot about those nasty little guys. By the time the rest of the Stahl Bokoblin forms, Sora has already drawn his bow and aims an arrow right at its eye. The single hit KO’s it, collapsing into a pile of bones. 

“Thank youuuu, Kairi.” She had been the one to tell him to aim for the eye on his first night, running around the great plateau.

_[What did I do?]_

Sora perks up at the sudden warmth he feels. “Kairi!”

He can hear the smile in her voice. _[Hey Sora.]_

Needing to put distance between himself and Riku, Sora jogs in the direction of Zora’s Domain. Keeping his breath even, he asks Kairi how she’s holding up.

 _[Well enough, thanks for checking, though. It looks like you’re headed for the Domain?]_ Sora nods, focusing on traveling the distance he needs to make up. _[That's a good idea. I do hope King Eraqus is still ruling. We knew him back in the day. He will be willing to provide you with help.]_

“Speaking of,” Sora huffs. “Back in the day?-”, another huff-, “-I remembered something.”

 _[You did!?]_ Kairi’s voice bleeds excitement, so he can’t help but wince as he says. “Yeah.” He slows down his jog a bit to a fast walk so he can talk better. “It was us, after we came down from Lanayru mountain.”

Kairi is silent, but Sora knows she’s still there, as he says. “I didn’t know you had red hair! It’s beautiful. Also nice to have a face to put to the name, ya’know?” She says nothing still, so Sora keeps talking. “The others too. I liked that I got to see them.”

_[That would be the last time...]_

Sora’s walk slows to a halt, “Oh.”

He stands there, alone in the dead of night. A breeze rustles the long stalks of grass, the sound carrying on for miles.

 _[I’m sorry.]_ Kairi’s voice is heavy with grief as she talks. _[If only I had unlocked the sacred power sooner... I might have prevented all of this from happening.]_ A sigh, _[Useless...]_

Sora frowns. “Hey now. Don’t talk about my friend like that. She’s the only one who’s been keeping Hyrule from being crumbled into dust for the past 100 years. Who also, might I add, saved my life. And!! She is the only person who enjoys my jokes! That right there is a big one, okay?”

Kairi laughs, it’s tired, but it’s still a laugh. _[Thank you, Sora.]_

“I mean it!” He starts walking again, “who else is gonna think that calling a fly with no wings ‘a walk’ is funny.” This time Kairi snorts, laughter filling his head, making Sora smile as well. He cracks a few more and each time sends her into stitches. As she disappears, it’s with the fading echoes of giggles.

__

The Zora stuck at the top of the now activated tower points to the rain in the distance.

"His Highness should be over there. Thank you so much for agreeing to help us, little Hylian!"

“Hey, no worries man!” Sora then leaps off the tower.

The Zora shrieks in fear for a second before Sora snaps open his paraglider, safely coasting to the far ledge— wait, shit, that’s a shrine just above the pathway. He almost, kinda sort of, collides with the hillside after some last-minute direction changes; but Sora makes it up the side with a triumphant yell.

Which scares the shit out of another Zora on the other side of the shrine.

After some frantic apologies on his part, this Zora also starts urging him to speak with a prince.

“Please, we are looking for a Hylian to help us.” She sounds vaguely stressed out, so Sora doesn’t mention the other guy already told him just that he’s willing to help— he just agrees. She sags with relief. This time he is directed to a bridge a yard or so away as a steady trickle of rain starts to fall around them.

“Prince Isa is just over there. Thank you so much!” The naked gratitude on her face almost makes him hesitate. But no, whatever the Zora needed help with, they _really_ needed the extra hands. He is totally willing and ready.

Sora doesn’t bother to complete the shrine, but he does activate it, which causes the Zora knight to freak out a bit. Avoiding that conversation entirely, Sora launches himself off the ledge. Gliding as close as he can to the bridge, he ends up a few feet shy when a voice from above declares—

“Halt.”

Sora stops, then glances around.

Off the watchtower of the bridge jumps the largest light blue Zora he’s seen yet. A towering figure, a shark’s head, with a giant ‘X’ shaped scar on his face. He’s wearing more decorative silver adornments than the soldiers, but the scars and muscle on this guy immediately let Sora know that the Zora can probably hold his own in a fight.

Well, that, and the large silver claymore strapped to his back.

The Zora narrows his eyes, giving Sora a critical once-over. “State your name and purpose, Hylian.”

Sora waves, “Hey there! My name is Sora, and I was told that, uh, what was it? Oh! That ‘Hylian assistance is required.’”

The Zora stares at him.

“So, uh, here I am?”

“... So I see.”

They stare at each other a little longer before Sora prompts, “And, you are?”

“Prince Isa of Zora’s Domain.” Isa turns away, pointing to the trail past the bridge. “Follow the path. I’ll meet you at the domain.” Then he leaps into the water and swims off.

Sora blinks twice.

“... nice to meet you too.”

__

It keeps raining.

The entire journey up the mountain path, there so many _fucking_ lizalofs to kill geez, is a wet and damp one. Sora powers through the early morning even faces off with a giant Moblin on a bridge before slaying it, only to reach the settlement as night once more begins to fall.

Sora heaves a sigh of relief, which is funny because his breath is soon stolen once more by the sight of the domain. It’s a glowing, elegantly carved city that is settled above the water on towering pillars. Layers make up the structure of the town, three total that he can see, with a giant scaled fish adorning the center of it all. A teal light emits from the stonework all around. The singular bridge that leads into the town is adorned with pillars of these lights. 

“Woah...”

“You actually made it.”

The Zora prince stands with a guard positioned at the end bridge. 

“You say that like you weren’t expecting me to.”

“I wasn’t.”

“ _Oy_.”

The guard at Isa’s side stiffens, but the prince holds up a hand, amusement written on his face. “You never cease to amuse me, Sora.”

At that, Sora pauses. “I... Do you know me?”

The prince’s eyes widened before asking, incredulously but with a hint of rage. “Do you not remember me, _Hero_?”

“I don’t remember anything.” Sora rubs at the back of his head, “I have amnesia, your highness. I mean no disrespect, but uh, I woke up from a long coma, like...a week ago?”

The Prince stares at him.

“Maybe six days ago? I’m sorry.”

The rain continues to fall all around them as the guard looks nervously between the two of them.

“...Interesting,” is all he says before gesturing to Sora to follow and walking off down the path. Sora glances once at the guard before jogging to catch up just as Prince Isa speaks again. “The heart is a fickle thing, Sora. Even if our minds don’t recall something, it always does.”

“Really?”

“Have you ever experienced a ‘heart-ache?” Before Sora can answer that, he continues. “It is not something that is logical, and yet, it is an emotion that my father and I have both experienced every day since my sister was taken from us.”

“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“He blames your King, Ansem. If she hadn’t been asked to be a champion, then Princess Aqua would live yet still.”

Sora’s steps falter as they reach an empty town square. “...I—”

“—I believe, your heart remembers.” Prince Isa stops gesturing to a statue in the center of the plaza. Bright, teal light emanates from a figure carved of pure, luminous rock. A gentle expression is present on the female Zora, looking soft despite the stone. She holds a spear like a caress with its tip pointed down as a sign of peace. 

Sora’s head feels fuzzy as he stares at her face.

“I believe your heart remembers her, My sister, Aqua—“

Everything fades out to black.

__

_Aqua’s webbed fingers glow with soft green light, hovering over a bleeding gash on his arm. She kneels at his side as he sits on the ground, letting her tend to it._

_“Honestly!” Kairi’s cross voice causes him to look up. Her face is tense, but her eyes are worried. “You should take better care of yourself, Sora. I realize that you’re powerful, but that doesn’t mean you’re impervious to wounds.”_

_Sora ducks his head back down again as Kairi sighs._

_Aqua clears her throat, “Your Highness, I believe one of my attendants is waiting for you over there.”_

_Kairi purses her lips but nods and walks off._

_Aqua focuses back on healing Sora’s arm for a few moments before she speaks again. “So, why exactly were you and the princess sneaking into Vah Ruta’s excavation site?”_

_Sora glances up to find Aqua staring hard at him._

_“His royal majesty told Kairi she was banned from the excavation sites.”_

_What could be one of Aqua’s brows raises at the informality of his speech. “So, you tried to sneak the princess in?”_

_“Yes.”_

_Aqua sighs, “on her orders?”_

_“No.”_

_That makes her pause, and she returns to staring at Sora. “Then why?”_

_He shrugs with one of his shoulders, “it makes her happy.”_

_Aqua rears back a bit, “so... you did all of that, were attacked by a Zora guard, to make her happy?”_

_Sora nods._

_“Why?” Aqua presses._

_“She’s my friend. Why wouldn’t I?”_

_Aqua stares at him. Then a smile slowly grows over her face, true happiness in her blue eyes. The green light flashes, and the deep gash that lingered on Sora’s arm is instantly gone._

_“I was friends with the princess’s mother, did you know?”_

_Sora marvels at his arm but shakes his head in answer._

_“She and I had an unwavering bond. Even after her passing, I still call her my friend.” Aqua smiles down at her own hands. “I promised her that I would look after her daughter. But it seems that job has been assigned to you, Sora.”_

_She looks back at him, “My healing ability is unique. I once thought I would need it to protect Kairi. But you, you care for your friends so much, Sora— without much thought for your own safety, it seems.” He can feel himself blush, Aqua laughing at his reaction as she draws up her knees, wrapping her arms around them._

_“I’ll make you a promise then, Sora. As you protect Kairi, you can always rely on me to watch your back.” Her gaze flits down to his formerly injured arm. “That means to heal your wounds as well.”_

_Sora nods, a smile accompanying it. “Thank you, Aqua.”_

_She smiles back in turn. Together they sit on the smooth rock, watching as Sheikah and Zora alike work to free Divine Beast Vah Ruta from the rock._

_Then Sora gasps. “Wait a minute!” Aqua blinks at him as he points at her, “You could have insta-healed my arm that whole time. That was a test, wasn’t it!?”_

_She grins now, sharp shark teeth on full display. “Of course it was.”_

_“Dude!”_

_Aqua bursts out laughing at his exclamation._

_Kairi walks over from her conversation, “why is Sora pouting this time?”_

_Only for Aqua to delightfully ask, “this time?”— causing Sora to bury his head in his hands with a groan. The sound of their teasing laughter filling the air around him._

__

Sora groans. He’s lying face up in the rain, but a Zora’s head blocks most of the water. Prince Isa stares down at him, expression more akin to stone than the statue’s. 

“It remembers, she— oh Hylia.” His vision spins as he speaks, “looked after Kairi like family .” His voice is tight, and there’s a throbbing at the back of his head from when he probably fainted and smacked the ground.

“Good.” Then a familiar green light emanates from the Zoras outstretched hand. The pain cuts off as a cool tingling sensation replaces it.

Sora blinks twice as the pain disappears, then is pulled up onto his feet by the Prince.

They stare at each other, then— “You can heal too!?”

“We _are_ related.”

The prince starts to walk off as Sora jogs again to catch up with him, off to the side of town. 

“Then why not heal your scar?”

“It holds significance.”

“It... what?”

“Sora.” The Prince’s tone holds warning, so he shuts up. “Even without your memories, I have more confidence with the situation, knowing it is the Hero that is here.”

“The situation being-?”

A roar reverberates through the air. The ever-falling rain becomes a downpour.

“Vah Ruta.”

Sora balks, “the divine beast?”

“It became active suddenly. The Divine beast has a unique ability that allows it to generate water endlessly. It has caused a never-ending pour of rain ever since. If this rain keeps up, the reservoir-“ He points to a towering wall built into the mountainside that’s just as high “-will break. The resulting flood will drown all of Hyrule.”

Sora pales, “did anyone make an announcement!? Warn anyone about this?”

For the first time, the Prince hesitates. “The king forbade releasing this knowledge.”

“Why?”

“His heartache is stronger than mine. My father... he sees it as compensation for my sister’s demise.” As they walk past a pair of young guards who advert their eyes, letting them pass. “However, not all of us agree that the many should bear the burdens of the few— who have long since passed.”

Prince Isa looks to Sora, “It’s best if we avoid the throne room.”

Sora just nods his head.

“We need to take down Vah Ruta. However, only Champions can walk within the beasts. Your princess, Kairi, once headed research on the Divine Beasts. After reviewing our old notes of Vah Ruta, it was discovered that the orbs on Ruta’s shoulders help it generate water. Additionally, these orbs run on electricity. The plan is to overload the electricity to halt the water, then sabotage the beast from the inside.”

“Sure, okay.”

“The Zora are an aquatic race.” The change in topic is jarring, but Sora accepts it. “We are quite superior to Hylians, with one jarring weakness.” He indicates to an older Zora in the distance, trying to approach a yellow glowing arrow on the ground. A small flash of lighting follows a crackle of electricity in the air as he tries to get closer. The older Zora squeals; Sora can’t help but wince in sympathy.

“Zora,” Prince Isa continues, “are especially susceptible to lighting.” He stares meaningfully at Sora.

It clicks.

“Oooh, that's why you need a Hylian!”

Faint amusement crosses the prince’s face. “Correct. There is another issue, however. Seeing that these arrows are near-fatal to our race, we do not carry any in supply.”

Sora checks his inventory for a second. “I’ve got... hm, five shock arrows.”

“That is too little to dare approach the Divine Beast.” Isa frowns, looking off in contemplation towards another mountain nearby. “We are pressed for time as well.” He pauses, clearly concerning something for a minute or so, before his face tightens. “Sora, as the prince, I could not ask you for another favor, but I find I must.”

“Hey, I’m happy to help.”

“There is a monster that wields shock arrows, who has made a home on Plymouth Mountain. I believe it would be possible to steal some of its stray arrows then return.”

“What, like a Moblin? No problem! I killed a few on my way here.”

Isa stops, shaking his head. “Not a Moblin, a Lynel.”

“A what?”

“They are centaur-like monsters who possess intense intelligence, resilience, and strength, making them among the most dangerous of creatures in all the land.” Prince Isa’s gaze hardens, “do not underestimate those foes, Sora.”

“I gotcha. So, sneak up the mountain, snag a few arrows and then meet you at the reservoir?”

“Correct.”

“Heh, no problem!”

__

Sora hears the lynel before he sees it. A roar vibrates through the air, like a cat yowling but much deeper. It wouldn’t be wise to fight it at this point, but also... he’s got the appropriate gear from the little foray up Lanayru. Sora double checks his inventory, confirming that he does indeed have some extra healing potions and a few health-boosting munchies.

Well...

Fuck it.

Sora leaps out from behind a boulder, an ice arrow is drawn, and lets it fly. For a terrifying moment, he thinks he’s shot a horse. Then he fully processes just what he is seeing. The lower half of the lynel is, actually, horse-like. But then its torso is thick, black fur-covered muscular arms and abs leading up to a red-maned lion’s face. Green eye’s glow with rage the second it spots him, the ice arrow glancing off its hide as it bellows.

“Shit.”

The Lynel draws a wickedly curved sword and a blade-edged shield.

“Shit-!” Sora lunges to the side as it charges past him, blade swinging in a wide arc. He catches his footing just as the Lynel comes to a stop, whirling around faster than should be possible with a horse’s legs.

It roars, and Sora braces himself.

The Lynel charges up fast, arms going wide in a blatant show to a pinching-slice attack. As the Lynel swings inward, time seems to slow. Sora backflips out of the range of the attack, it missing him as he steps back.

Sora sees his opening.

Lunging in, Sora can get in a good few hits before the Lynel stands upright. It seems shocked that it even got hit before it snarls.

Sora smirks back. He’s got this.

The battle continues, a delicate balance of dodging and landing on both accounts. Sora lost a few shields with some missed timed blocks, but he’s not the one who's bloodied.

It’s still raining.

He slips in the dirt. The Lynel doesn’t hesitate to retaliate, bringing its arm up high to cleave him in half.

Sora tries to scramble back, but even he knows it's too late—

Two arrows nail the Lynel in its face.

“Sora!”

The Lynel roar sounds more like a screech as it stagers long enough for Sora to get himself the fuck out of range. The two of them look towards the call of the voice.

Sora balks.

It’s Riku; his casual clothes exchanged for the dark grey, skin-tight, Sheikah armor. A mask pulled up over the lower half of his face, a long sword at his side, a mind’s eye shield to his back, and Sheikah bow in hand.

The Lynel roars, switching targets and charges at Riku before Sora can do anything. Riku brings both hands in front of his face, making a strange hand gesture, then disappears into red talismans as the Lynel slices his blade through the space he once stood.

A red Sheikah symbol appears some distance from the Lynel, and Riku materializes, bow aimed, letting more arrows fly.

The Lynel roars, putting aside its sword and shield. Sora’s blood runs cold as Pince Isa’s words echo in his head.

_‘It is an intelligent monster, equipped with shock arrows.’_

“Shock arrows-!”

It fires an arrow at once towards Riku, who takes off faster at Sora’s warning— just barely missing Riku. But electricity is more potent in the rain. The arrow hits the ground and it discharges electricity, a bubble of lightning appearing around haunting Riku in his tracks.

Yet another roar covers Riku’s yell of pain as the Lynel chargers right at him— snarling as it goes.

Sora doesn’t hesitate, hopelessly throwing himself onto the monster’s back like he was a horse in hopes of distracting it.

It works. The Lynel rears up some distance from Riku, then frantically tries to buck Sora off. Sora locks his legs around the monster’s torso as best he can in the rain. With a yell of his own, he draws his blade and sinks it deep into the beast’s belly.

There’s one final roar. Then the monster disappears into a mist of malice.

Sora flops onto the ground breathing hard. Riku is, too, still on the ground a few feet away. 

The rain continues to fall.

“Riku—“

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” 

Sora flinches as Riku is on his feet at once. He stalks towards Sora, who is suddenly a lot more afraid than he was facing the Lynel seconds ago. He holds up his hands in a placating way. “Now, Riku—“

Two fists curl into the front of Sora’s tunic as he is hauled to his feet by a very pissed-off Riku.

“You left me behind!”

“Er—”

“You just ditched me! Like I was nothing- like a horse!”

“Hey!”

“Don’t deny it!” He shakes Sora, “You just disappeared in the night and I-“ Sora sees Riku freeze. There’s a mask covering the lower half of his face, and his tone is pissed. But, Sora can understand what he means in Riku’s eyes.

“I thought you were gone.”

_I thought you were dead._

Riku’s grip goes slack as all the fight leaves him at once. Sora lands on his feet, yet Riku’s hold just slips down to Sora’s forearms instead. He still holds on tight to him. They’re both soaked to the bone and muddy as hell, but neither of them is thinking about that.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Riku.”

“Sora,” Riku sounds exhausted and _damn—_ those bags under his eyes aren’t good at all. “You...”

“I’m sorry, Riku. I didn’t stop to think about what you might think happened to me.”

“Of course I would.” Riku’s voice breaks a little. 

Sora’s heart twinges with unspoken guilt. “I didn’t think at all.”

“Clearly, you did.” Riku’s eyes are tinged red, his voice still strained. Raindrops run down his face. “You left me behind.”

“It won’t happen again.”

Riku closes his eyes tight. “Why?”

“I just, I wanted to see the world.” Riku looks up at him and Sora can see him slipping, losing the fight to exhaustion.

“And I wouldn’t let you.”

“Riku...” Riku lets go of his arms, pulling away. 

Everything feels so cold the second he lets him go. Sora lunges forward instead, this time catching Riku by surprise, grabbing his arm in turn.

“I promise, I won’t do it again.” Riku looks up at him, his green eyes shining as night sets around them.

“I promise, Riku. I won’t leave you behind again.”

__

Despite everything, Riku attempts to help Sora gather up the stray shock arrows that the Lynel has cast about. It’s considered ‘an attempt’ because the Sheikah walks a few steps after Sora catches him up to speed on the situation— and faints.

Sora leaves him propped up under a tree as he runs around in the rain, grabbing as many arrows as he can. Once that’s taken care of, he piggybacks Riku back down the mountain. 

As they approach a backway bridge into the domain, Sora spies Prince Isa pacing in the rain.

A white-finned Zora standing on patrol at the bridge sighs in relief as he makes his way towards the settlement. 

“His highness has been anxious for your return.”

Sora glances back towards Isa, who has suddenly stopped pacing and is instead standing at a pavilion out of the rain. Pointedly not looking towards Sora. 

Sora smiles to himself then at the guard. “Thanks.”

As Sora approaches, Isa doesn’t even bat an eye at Riku. “The arrows?”

“25 total. Got rid of that Lynel too.”

At that, Prince Isa starts. “You, what?”

“It was no biggie. The biggest issue was the rain during the whole thing, but I’m perfectly fine.” Isa looks to Riku. “Oh, he’s just tired. Do you guys have an inn in town?”

Isa stares at him a little longer before nodding. “Follow me then.”

The innkeeper gasps with shock as the Prince enters her establishment, later swearing to keep the Sheikah and Hyilan’s presence a secret- of course, your highness. Sora lays Riku down on a water bed, where he continues to sleep soundly.

Her husband gives Sora a warm bowl of clam chowder and accepts Sora’s money for a bed easily enough. The Hylian all but inhales the food; the creamy stew spreads warmth from his belly to his veins, feeling loads better in seconds. Sora trades out his damp adventure’s shirt for the only dry one he has— his champions tunic.

Except Prince Isa stops him.

“You’re far too noticeable in that.” He holds about a bundle instead. Sora unfurls it to see silver scales woven into a water-resistant fabric. “That is Zora’s Armor. It is not something typically gifted to outsiders these days. However, it is something that my sister made for you. To keep you safe in the waters when she was not present to heal you.”

A few minutes later, Sora is fastening up the arm braces as he approaches Prince Isa.

“Okay, I’m ready.”

“So it appears.” Isa gives him a once-over before he nods to himself. “Very well, let us see if we can appease Vah Ruta.”

__

“Go, Sora!” 

Prince Isa gives another mighty kick of his fins, propelling Sora partway up the waterfall pouring from the divine beasts. 

As the shock arrow soars though the air, he already knows it will hit home as the trunk of the elephant-shaped machine heavily collapses in the water. It sends out a tidal wave that crests the water over the basin’s edges, but Prince Isa isn’t harmed.

Sora’s glider is damp but still able to successfully get him to the entryway of the beast.

“Sora!” Comes the prince’s voice. “The rest is now up to you.” 

He looks back as Isa wades in the water, a reasonable distance from the beast. His expression turns from pinched to something much more vulnerable.

“If you see my sister...” He hesitates, his stony expression turning into something much more vulnerable. “Please let her know that she lives on in our hearts.”

He can only nod as the gate to the door closes up behind him. As Sora steps further into the divine beast, he feels a cool wave of gentle energy wash over him.

 _[You're... here.]_ A woman’s voice, full of quiet awe, speaks. It’s not the same as when Kairi talks to him. This familiar sound echoes throughout the chambers of the Divine beast.

“Aqua.”

A gentle laugh follows _—[Hello, Sora. I must say... that I am so happy to see that this day has finally arrived. Now Ruta can finally be freed from Ganon’s control.]_

Sora stands firm, “tell me what I need to do.”

 _[You’ll need to manipulate the controls of the divine beast from your slate. As well as purge the malice that rests within.]_ Even though he can’t see her, Sora hears Aqua’s reassuring smile. _[If anyone can do this, it’s you, Sora.]_

__

There’s a strange sense of urgency in his pace as Sora rushes towards the control terminal, an orange glowing monument that is pulsing with light every second. Shallow water has flooded the large room it resides in, the general area filling him with a strange sense of foreboding.

Something terrible is going to happen.

Specks of malice are emitting from the terminal, clogging the air surrounding it. The pulsing speeds up as Sora gets closer. He has to reach it. He has to before—

The device shuts down and Sora freezes. As the room suddenly shudders, he instantly has a horrible flashback to the emergence of the Calamity all those years ago. It turns out he’s not far off. The malice condenses then erupts from the terminal, swirling menacingly around the Sheikah slate sensor, preventing him from getting close. 

“No—“

Streams of blue light slip past him. Sora follows the light, the same shade of neon blue as most of the ancient technology and his bad feeling only gets worse. The light converges in one another, forming a swirling blue sphere that solidifies before his very eyes.

Two arms form first, one ending in a spear with a wicked point, while the other has a hand formed from spidery malice with talons. Soon a being contrived of pure malice hovers before him, the form ending with some odd-looking pot that allows the horrid torso to stay afloat. The red mane of the blight falls back as it looks up, as its eye— a guardian's eye locks on Sora.

Sora feels his breath catch as it lets out a blood-curdling screech. 

_[Please, take care, Sora, ]_ comes Aqua's plea. _[That... thing is one of Ganon’s creations. I fought for my life, but it proved to be my demise 100 years ago.]_

“Wha—!” It swings its spear wide, Sora just out of its reach.

Horror grows inside of him as he exclaims, “Aqua, that thing _killed_ you?”

_[Yes.]_

Its body convulses, the malice form shuddering for a second as it growls.

 _[Regardless... I believe you are well prepared for this battle._ ] The monster shrieks again as Sora hurriedly draws his sword. 

_[Sora, I have faith in you.]_

____

Prince Isa and Riku are waiting for Sora at the edge of the reservoir’s pier. The light sets him down just a few feet away, right at the edge. Riku rushes forward, quickly pulling out a fairy potion as he looks for injuries.

Prince Isa’s Gaze stays focused on Vah Ruta. Ruta has somehow managed to ascend to the top of one of the falter peaks in the Lanaryu range. 

“When the hell did that happen?” Sora balks.

Now Prince Isa turns to look at him. “You mean to say that it was not you operating the machine?”

Sora blinks, then it clicks. “Oooh, Aqua must have done that. Er—” Seeing Isa’s face, Sora quickly blurts out, “Her spirit has control! Of Vah Ruta. No more malice blocking her out.”

Prince Isa’s face is stone. “...I see.” 

Sora sees Riku shift from beside him to slightly in front of him. He licks his lips, swallowing down his nerves. “I passed along your message to her. She said... ‘I know, for I never left you.’” The prince stops breathing, “she sends her love.. annnnd said to tell your dad that he’s acting unbecomingly.”

Riku whirls around, the look on his face screaming, ‘you don’t say things like that to royalty.’

A bark of laughter makes the two boys look back to the source. Prince Isa looks much younger as he laughs, both hands clutching at his sides.

“Of course, of course, she would say that.” He chuckles again, “our father would always tell Aqua that some of her habits were ‘unbecoming’ of a Zora princess. Right up until those skills got her chosen to be a champion.” Isa smiles, looking up to Vah Ruta.

“Thank you, Sora. I will never forget this.” He looks back at the two of them. “And see that you don’t either, my friend.”

Sora grins, stepping forward for a handshake. “I’ll never forget my friends. As you said, the heart always remembers.”

Prince Isa shakes his hand as a clamor echos up in the air. Riku jogs over to the edge of the dam, looking down the structure before sprinting back. He gives a nervous glance to the prince.

“The king and his men are coming.”

Prince Isa hums, “probably to investigate just what appeased Vah Ruta. You two should go. Despite being the hero’s here today, I’m afraid that my father’s grudge will blind him from logic for a bit longer.”

Riku walks closer, “then what will you tell the king?”

“The truth. It will take him some time to admit it, but I have witnesses that will step forward and put in a good word for the Hylian Hero.” The prince takes a moment to consider something, “If I may suggest your next course of action? A Gerudo trader mentioned that divine beast Vah Naboris had also activated not too long ago.”

Riku’s eyes tighten a bit, but he nods. “The desert, huh...”

“As a Zora, I’m not fond of it either.”

When Riku doesn’t make any further comment, Isa looks to Sora, “I’ll pen a letter to the Guredo Chief, Xion. She’ll know to expect you then.”

“I appreciate that!”

Prince Isa nods, “next time we meet, we will celebrate your victory properly.”

Sora’s smile widens, “I’mma hold you to that Prince Isa.” As he turns away, something catches his eyes. “Hey, your highness?” 

“Yes?”

“Do you need that paraglide over there?”

__

Sora and Riku have climbed mount Plyous again to put some distance between themselves and the royal guard. They watch as the king, a hulking figure of a- well... shark approaches the Prince. The two converse for a bit before the king makes some angry gestures; the Zora guards fan out with their spears at the ready.

Riku winces, “we should go.”

Sora nods, “yup, sounds good to me.” He pulls out two paragliders from the slate and passes one to Riku, who stares down at it then up to him.

Sora can feel a bit of uncertainty building up as he smiles, “Race you down the mountain?”

Riku stares a second longer, and Sora can _feel_ himself sweating before the Sheikah smirks, grabbing the paraglider. “You think you can beat me?”

Sora’s grin becomes a little wider. 


	4. Gerudo Town

While they do have a goal in mind, Riku is letting Sora take the reins this time. After stopping at the stables to pick back up their horses, their travels pick back up again. Riku starts initiating conversations, albeit a bit awkwardly, but soon enough, Sora has him talking with more than just a few hums and haws.

Right up until Sora starts a conversation going, “so I didn’t know you could fight!” Which Riku takes as an insult if you can interpret him suddenly pulling Braveheart to a halt with a look of mild outrage as such. 

“I’m a _Master,_ Sora.”

Sora blinks.

“The only disciple to Master Ava, legendary Sheikah aid to the royal family?”

“...”

“Certified expert in the lost arts?”

“..uhh?”

Riku’s composure snaps. “I’m the first Sheikah master in a century!” 

“Yeah, okay... but you kept running away from combat on our way to the domain?”

“I didn’t wanna waste time!”

“ _Suuure_ Riku.” Sora can see a vein in Riku’s forehead, much to his delight.

One thing leads to another: they start taking out Bokoblin camps left and right. Soon the two are keeping score of who can take out the most monsters in a fight. The sun is starting to set as Riku pulls his greatblade out of the dissolving corpse of a monster. 

“That makes 37 for me.” There’s something smug in his voice as Sora grumbles out a number in the twenties. “What was that about running from fights again?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Sora gives two sharp whistles and listens for their horses answering neighs. Once he does, he inspects the rock hideout that the bokoblins had been camping in. “Wanna make camp here for the night?”

Riku thinks for a moment, looking at the dimming light as their horses approach. Then he looks back at Sora. “If you’re not tired, we can keep going.”

“Says the guy who never really recovered from his exhaustion, Rikuuuu.”

Riku crosses his arms but doesn’t say anything for a minute. “Fine, we’ll camp here for tonight.”

There isn’t a cooking pot for them to use, so they fire roast some meat from a boar Riku took out earlier. As the evening comes down, Riku stretches before volunteering for night watch first.

“It’s okay, you go ahead and sleep, Riku.”

Riku frowns at this. Sora sucks in a breath, not wanting to lose any ground that they just made up, and finally confesses. “I can’t sleep.”

“Are you not tired from fighting earlier?”

“That’s not what I mean.” Sora shifts his gaze, laying down— hands behind his head on the ground, looking up the rock ceiling above them. “I just... I don’t sleep anymore.”

From beside him, he hears Riku shift before he speaks again. 

“You mean to say... since waking up in the shrine of...” he trails off as Sora hums.

“Yu-p. Ever since I woke up again, I haven’t actually gotten sleepy. Like sure, my body gets tired... but after I rest for a little bit, I’m usually good to go.” He frowns to himself. “I don’t think I’ve been actually, like, ya know, drowsy.” Still, Sora shrugs. “It’s probably a side effect of sleeping for 100 years, right?”

The fire crackles for a few seconds before Sora looks at Riku. He immediately sits back up at the look of utter devastation on his face. “Riku?” There’s no response for a second, then Riku blinks, and Sora’s guilt, oh he _shouldn’t_ have said anything, immediately comes surging forward as Riku’s eyes water.

“Yeah?” 

“You’re crying.” 

Riku starts at that, looking away from the fire to Sora in surprise, causing more tears to stream down his face. He brings a hand up to his cheek as seems surprised when it comes away damp. Quickly, he wipes them away. 

“Huh, guess I stared at the fire too long.”

“...sorry.”

“What?” Riku looks sharply over, concern on his face. “No, Sora. Don’t be sorry; you have nothing to apologize for.”

Sora purses his lips but doesn’t say anything more. At least not until Riku passes him a honey candy.

__

Maybe traveling to the Gerudo village, clear on the other side of the continent, was not the best idea. Still, with Kairi’s radio silence and Lady Ava’s standing instructions of freeing the Divine Beasts, they don’t have much of a choice. Vah Naboris is the only other active beast they have heard of so far. Sora had made an off-handed joke about charging the castle and was subjected to a 30-minute lecture on how stupid that would be from Riku. 

They take a brief detour to Lake Hylia for Sora to run amok on the tower, get some regional information, and find more shrines. This time, Riku scales it with him after the two of them take out the monsters surrounding it. 

“Whoa...”

“Pretty sweet view, right?” Sora smacks Riku on the back, making him flinch at this height, but Sora dances out of his reach before he can hit him back. Riku rolls his eyes but lets it go.

“You can see other towers from here too.”

They look at the map that the slate gives Sora, fiddle with the pinning function, then assign other areas of note to look at on their way around the lake. Riku gestures for the slate after a bit. 

“Are there any supposed memory locations nearby?” Sure enough, there is an image of Lake Hylia in one of Kairi’s photos. Riku and Sora figure out a close enough area to where the picture was likely taken, given how the bridge is the main focal point. 

“Let’s go there first. We have a map of the area now, and if we are right—“ “you mean if, you’re right—“, “that’s beside the point, but fine. If I’m right, then we should stumble on the memory along the road.”

Sora stretches his arms above his head with a groan. “Alright, let’s get going then.”

“Well, hang on.” Rikuideass, looking at the setting sun. “It’s almost night.”

“Again?”

“That is how days work, Sora.”

“Haw-Haw, you’re so funny, Riku.” Still, he sits down on the floor. “Well, how about we camp here.”

“On the tower?”

“Yeah, I mean monsters don’t come near it.”

Riku appears to think about it for a moment before he nods. “Alright, sounds reasonable enough.”

“You say that like my ideas aren’t always good.”

Riku’s face goes flat, “Sora, you wanted to Statis a boulder, launch it, and ride it over a river.”

“Hey! I still think it would have been worth a shot!”

Riku just sighs before pulling some wood and flint out of the slate. “I’m starting the fire now.”

“Oi, don’t ignore me.”

Riku ignores him.

Sora pouts on the other side of the tower before the evening chill sends him crawling over to Riku’s fire. The Sheikah says nothing but hands him a meat and mushroom skewer, so Sora forgives him.

As they finish eating, Riku picks back up the slate again. Sora sees him looking at the selfie he and Namine took. Riku notices that he’s been caught and hands the slate back to Sora.

“Sorry, that’s probably personal.”

Sora shrugs, accepting the tablet back. “It was a fun picture.” He looks down at the slate and then glances over to Riku, staring at the half-moon in the sky.

Sora nibbles on his lower lip, “Hey, Riku—“

“What _is_ that?” Riku is suddenly standing on his feet, looking towards the great Hylia bridge. Sora follows his gaze and feels his breath leave him.

“ _Oh_.”

An iridescent dragon with pulsating yellow color flies along the span of the bridge. Its single, jagged-shaped horn emanates light, white fur flowing in the wind. The dragon is brighter than any star in the sky.

“It’s a dragon, Riku.” His voice is hushed, even though they’re so far from the beast. Its majesty is still a sight to behold as it gracefully moves through the air.

“They’re real?” Riku’s voice is barely above a whisper.

“I told you, didn’t I? I saved one up on Mount Lanyure. The blue spirit of wisdom, Naydra.”

“Blue...” Riku murmurs to himself, eyes never leaving the dragon. “Then, with this one being yellow... it must be the spirit of courage, Farrosh.” A weak laugh escapes him, “Did you know, Sora? That only those with a spirit worthy enough may see the dragons? Most people cannot perceive them or their existence.” Another laugh, “after all these years...”

Sure enough, even from this distance, Sora can see a caravan of travelers walking onto the bridge. No one looks up at the dragon’s talons passing directly overhead. As the spirit flies further away from them, Riku sighs. “I wonder if I saw it because you’re here with me.”

Sora crosses his arms, “what are you talking about? _Master_ Riku, if anyone is worthy enough to see them, it’s you.”

Riku scoffs as he sits back down. “You barely know me, Sora.”

Sora playfully nudges Riku with his foot, getting a disgusted sound as he does, before sitting back down. “Well, then I look forward to proving you wrong.”

“I’m never wrong.”

“Sure, Riku.”

“Watch it.”

___

Traveling with Riku becomes surprisingly easy. 

As the days blend together, they develop a rhythm of a schedule. Sora wakes up Riku just before dawn and together, they check their horses to make sure they’re holding up okay. Dissembling camp is quick and easy; Riku packs the sleeping and cooking gear while Sora puts out the coals of their fire and cleans up the area. 

When their horses need a break, they stop to route out bokoblins in the area or, much more to Sora’s delight, they spar for fun. Lunch is usually kept light, walking alongside the horses for a bit because one of them will start to get saddle sore by this time in the day. Riku has started foraging with Sora but prefers to hunt animals to keep up their protein source. 

Riku always determines where they camp for the night. Sora has quickly realized that the Sheikah is as bright as he is pretty. Riku looks for places that are out of the elements in case of sudden rain but prioritizes a defensive location above all else. 

Riku cooks their dinner over a fire as Sora scouts the nearby area for anything interesting or useful. Then the next it starts all over again.

When they’re finally on the other side of the lake, Riku makes the call to hunt down the photo’s location. His approximation of the site is scarily close. Scout’s Hill is the actual name of the area on the map. While it’s Riku who figures that out, it’s Sora who finds the specific spot. There’s a tree growing on top of the hill, and just under its outcropping are two little statues for the koroks. Riku has fallen silent again once they were in the area, but Sora doesn’t pay it any mind. Not when he turns around after making an offering to the statues and is hit with the sharp realization that _this_ is it. 

Sora frantically fumbles with the slate of a second. It’s enough for Riku to call up the rock in worry to him, but he ignores it. Instead, Sora looks down at the photo then at the great bridge in the distance.

Everything looks correct and he swears that something is just on the tip of his tongue—

__

_It’s raining._

_Sora swings the blade in his hands through practiced motions, each slice in the air cutting the droplets of water as they fall, almost in slow motion._

_The blade in his hands doesn’t feel like a regular sword. It feels like an extension of himself, the purple hilt fitting perfectly in his palm, the blade weights nothing with each swing and thrust. The legendary sword that seals the darkness hums with power at his full health._

_As he practices, Sora hears a sigh from behind him._

_“Well,” Kairi’s melancholy voice reaches his ears. “I doubt this rain will let up anytime soon.” She laughs, “Good! Anything to avoid getting trapped back up at the castle.”_

_Sora chuckles as he continues swinging._

_“Ah, you feel the same way too, huh, Sora?” Kairi sighs again. “I suppose that makes sense. You were a merchant after. I can only imagine how stifling this new path of yours must be. The freedom to go where you please, to travel — traded away to a life behind concrete walls of a castle... all because you pulled the sword free from its pedestal at a fair.”_

_Sora hums in response._

_“What was it that happened? You were so scared you broke something that you offered to put it back in the rock?”_

_Sora laughs sharply without humor. “And then the blade glowed.” He turns around now, finally looking at Kairi. Her fair features are damp from the rain, but her blue eyes are trained on the sword._

_“It did, didn’t it.” She looks to Sora, “you’ve come a long way from being a mere merchant. Your dedication to your new status and training is truly admirable. I see now why you would be the chosen one.” She smiles at him and Sora feels warm as he finally steps out of the rain to sit down next to her. Her smile turns sad, though, as he settles down._

_They sit there together, listening to the rainfall all around them._

_“What if...” Kairi’s voice is barely audible above the rain. “One day... you realized that this path wasn’t meant for you. Yet, the only thing that people would ever tell you was that you were fated to walk these steps. So... no matter what you thought, you had no choice.”_

_Sora’s laugh sounds fake to his ears. “What do you mean ‘what if’? That’s exactly what happened.”_

_She looks down at the ground now. “I... wouldn’t have chosen this path for myself.”_

_Sora looks over to Kairi and sees the proud princess of light crumpling in on herself, her arms coming up around herself, holding on tight as though if she didn’t— she would come apart at the seams. “I never wanted this,” is hissed from her teeth._

_Sora reaches over slowly and rests his arm around her shoulders. The weight startles her, head popping up while exposing the tears threatening to spill from her eyes._

_“Neither did I.” His tone is dull, but saying words of blasphemy— denying the will of the goddess’s hand is just... liberating. Sora turns to look at Kairi, and this time his smile feels honest... small, but real._

_“Ya know what, though? If I never walked this path, then we would have never been friends.”_

_Kairi’s breath stutters for a moment, and as the memory fades, it does so on a brilliant smile that does nothing to diminish the tears falling from her eyes._

__

Riku’s worried green eyes are the first things that Sora sees when he comes back to himself.

Sora looks up at him, then around them. The sun is shining bright. 

“Well,” Sora licks his lips, “I’m still standing, so I’m counting this as an improvement.” Riku pat’s his shoulder with a sigh, tension bleeding from his shoulders as he walks away. 

“Did you remember anything?”

Sora jumps off the rocks, following him down the hill. “Yu-p. A conversation Kairi and I had here about our destined paths.”

Riku keeps looking forward as Sora catches up to him. “Was it a good memory?”

“Mmm... no, it wasn’t. But it was important.” Sora looks away from Riku, looking forward as well. “I’m gonna save her. She’s my friend, I’ve got to.” 

Riku nudges him as they walk. “Well, you don’t have to do it alone.”

Sora grins in full, making Riku stumble as he throws an arm around his shoulders. “You’re a good guy Riku.”

“... You’re only now saying that?”

“W-well—“

Riku leans more of his weight back on Sora. “You wound me, oh hero of time.” He throws a hand on his forehead with a dramatic sigh. “I don’t think I’ll ever recover.”

“Oh, goddess, stop!” Riku’s weight bears down even more on him. “You’re heavy!!”

__

Sora takes over with haggling down prices and traded foraged goods for items when passing by any traveling merchants. This skill of his makes more sense now that he knows he used to _be_ a trader. He manages to get them a cooking pot from a woman looking to dump her old one. Sora quickly turns to Riku in unabashed glee, who is leaning against Braveheart, watching with amusement as Sora hoists the pot over his head in victory. 

“Tonight, we feast!”

This is how Sora learns that if it’s not fire-grilled food— Riku fucking sucks at cooking. The two of them are staring down at the multicolored... er, goo, that now sits at the bottom of the pot. 

Sora can’t tear his eyes away from the abomination. “Tell me, again, what did you put in here?”

“I swear, it was just some chicken, herbs, and rice.”

A bubble bursts on the goo.

“... How confident are you about that?”

Riku is subsequently banned from cooking with the pot and delegating to scouting duty. He looks adequately ashamed of himself, so Sora can’t find it in him to tease the poor guy about it any longer. After quickly rolling up his sleeves, Sora gets to work.

The aroma of sweet chicken leads Riku back to their camp. Sora grins at the look of surprise on his face as Riku’s eyes widen.

“H-how?”

A beautifully plated chicken breast, seasoned with some Hyrule herbs steamed in a leftover apple juice, sits on top of a bed of white rice cooked with some mushrooms.

Sora can’t keep the smugness out of his voice as he pushes the plate into Riku’s hands. “Well, go on, eat up Riku!”

Riku takes one bite before freezing and turning to Sora. “You’re cooking from now on.”

“Ehehe.” 

“I’m serious,” Riku takes a bite of the rice now. He looks down at the plate again before over to Sora. “Okay, but... how?”

Sora shrugs, sitting cross-legged next to Riku. “I dunno, guess I was a chef in a past life.”

Riku pauses before going, “huh,” then keeps eating.

The ground is a little uncomfortable in these parts. They’ve long since passed by Lake Hylia and are on the outskirts of the Gerudo Wastelands— towering red cliff mesa’s that are devoid of all plant life. Riku’s already planned out their route, which Sora thought was funny because there’s only one path anyway. 

The single charted path through the wasteland is a path at the bottom of the canyon. Towards the end of the trail is the last stable that they will see in these parts. The plan is to house their horses there and make their way through the desert sands on foot. Afterall, horses don’t do well in the sweltering heat of the desert. In fact, neither do Hylians or Sheikah, so they have to reach the desert’s midway point within a night’s travel. 

Riku takes the cooking pot once Sora is done cleaning it to whip up a few potions with items they’ve foraged. “I can at least do that,” Riku had said at Sora’s dubious look. 

Sure enough, Riku creates four total long-lasting potions, two for the cold and two for the heat. Sora stores them all in the slate after Riku finishes bottling them. “One for me, one for you?”

Riku nods, “it’s just a precaution. If need be, I can make more once we reach the Kara Kara Bazaar. Since Prince Isa sent a letter ahead of us, I'm sure that some emissary will be waiting there for us.”

“Sorry, at the what? What happened to the midway point?”

“The bazaar is the midway point, Sora. It is a law for the Gerudo that only women, Vai, can enter their city. It absolutely forbids men, which they call voe, under any circumstances. If men have business with the Gerudo, it is all done at the Kara Kara Bazaar.”

Sora blinks at this. “Wait, if men aren’t allowed, then where do the Gerudo men live?”

Riku gives him a flat stare that just about screams ‘are you stupid’ before he winces. “You don’t remember, do you?” 

“Remember what? Please, grant me some of your wisdom, oh great master.”

Riku rolls his eyes, but a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “The Gerudo are a race of warrior women. And Woman only. Very rarely do they ever have a male be born to the race.” Riku looks off into the night sky. “Legends talk of Ganon possessing a Gerudo male once, and how he cursed what their people once considered to be a blessing.”

Sora balks at the information. “That’s just awful... what happens to the males born now?”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t know.” Riku looks to Sora. “But I think you did, once upon a time.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“The Gerudo champion, Vanitas, was rumored to be a good friend of yours 100 years ago. He was the most recent male to be born to the race since Ganon possessed the last one.”

Riku looks back down to the fire, “people considered the ‘male blessing’ to be cursed now because Vanitas was the only Gerudo ever to be born with black hair. However...” Riku trails off. “If I remember correctly, the most recent chieftain, Xion, was also born with black hair.”

Sora stares at him, “sooo, not a curse then?”

“I have my own theory.” Riku shifts a bit, sitting up straighter. Sora has to resist the urge to roll his eyes because, of course, he does. “I think that, due to the race being touched by Ganon, they are closely tied to him. That black hair could be a warning of sorts. The ‘dark stain’ of their history will soon re-emerge.”

Sora finally looks away from Riku, frowning, “I doubt people back then thought of it that way.”

“No,” Riku says quietly. “I doubt they did.”

__

They reach the stables by midday, leaving just enough time for Riku to book a bed and go back to sleep. He’ll need it, considering that they will be crossing the desert by night. Sora informs Riku of his plan to scale the wasteland tower in the meantime and promises that he will be back in a jiff. Riku isn’t thrilled by that idea, and Sora half expects him to say something against it, especially considering the stunt Sora pulled on the way to the domain.

Surprisingly Riku purses his lips but nods. 

“Alright, but if you’re not here by nightfall—“

“Champion's honor!”

Sora had meant it as a half-joke; the older man looking after their horses certainly laughs like it is, but Riku just nods before walking into the stable tent.

There is some old scaffolding along the canyon’s sides— Sora ventures up mostly by following these. Looking at the degrading cranes and gear left lying around, he guesses that the area used to be a mining operation or something. There are no signs of recent digs as wolves and monsters inhabit the site. Moblins seem to be the primary breed of them here. They tower above their bokoblin counterparts and swing clubs twice as hard.

It’s nothing Sora can’t handle, though. 

The tower, unfortunately, is smack dab in the middle of a bog. It’s murky sludge bubbles and emits a faint odor of sulfur into the air.

Sora gags, “oh, goddess, don’t make me climb this.”

Several concrete slabs stand tall in the bog... but there’s no way for him to hop on to reach the tower without sinking to his slimy demise. Sora looks around the area. Maybe some rope is lying around when a giant metal crate catches his eye. For a moment, Sora just stares at it.

Then he gasps in delight, whipping out the Sheikah slate.

_[I knew you would figure it out.]_

Sora’s smile grows more prominent, “Kairi! Oh, it’s good to hear from you again.”

 _[You’re sweet, Sora.]_ He can hear the smile in her voice. _[I take it the domain went well?]_

“Yes! Prince Isa and I saved Aqua’s spirit. She has control over Vah Ruta once again.”

 _[Oh, that’s good]_ Her voice waivers, emotions running in her tone. _[Isa as well too... I suppose you really are special, Sora. Thank you, for saving her.]_ Before Sora can speak, Kairi clears her throat. _[I sense some of her energy residing within you.]_

“Oh right!” Sora goes back to the slate and selects the Statis rune. “She did mention that she left some of her healing ability to me.” Sora aims the marker at the box.

_[...Sora, what are you—]_

Sora freezes the block in time and quickly attacks it with a series of strikes. Then he aims the last strike up into the air.

“That should do it!” The timer on the rune begins flashing, so Sora hops onto the side of the crate and holds on tight.

[ _wait, what are you doing_ —]

The momentum built up from Stasis launches Sora straight up into the air— high above the bog and the top of the tower. Quickly letting go of the box, he snaps open his paraglider and soars smoothly through the sky until he is directly over the top floor of the tower, then drops.

Sora nods to himself as he sticks the landing. “Nailed it.”

[ _..._ ]

“...Kairi?”

[ _Sora... that’s... not, at all, what I was expecting._ ]

Sora casually strolls over to the distilling pedestal and waits for his map. “Hey, I got up the tower, didn’t I?”

 _[Well,]_ She laughs, _[you certainly have a point.]_

“Hey, if I can ask, I was kinda expecting you to appear again once I beat the malice blight in Van Ruta.” There a pause as worry creeps into Sora’s tone. “Did something happen?”

_[...Do you recall when you woke up, Sora? I told you that I would buy you some time?]_

“Yeeahhh?”

 _[... even though the loss of the blight has weakened The Calamity... I fear that Ganon grows stronger with each passing day.]_ She takes a deep breath, _[I can sense it at all times, but I am unaware of just what the calamity is doing. Each time its power swells, it takes longer for me to gather myself— my sense of self.]_

“Kairi, what do you mean?” Sora’s voice is rushed and tense.

 _[I think... Ganon is up to something, Sora. And I’m trying; I am, to hold it back. But each time I become that barrier... it takes longer than it used to for me to pull myself out of it.]_ Kairi cuts him off before he can speak, _[don’t you dare try to charge the castle right now.]_

Sora throws his hands up in the air, “but what about you? Kairi, I need to get you out of there.”

 _[And you will.]_ Her tone turns gentle as her voice starts to fade. _[I have faith that you will. But... I’m not your only friend who needs help, Sora.]_

She disappears once more as the sky blooms with the twilight colors, leaving Sora alone at the top of the tower. He sighs in frustration, plucking the tablet from the pedestal, turning around to look out into the desert sands. Then he pauses.

Even from so far away, Vah Naboris is visible. Sora can see each thundering step it takes, a swirling sandstorm at its feet as it walks amongst the dunes out of control. Really close to a settlement amongst the sands.

“Well... that’s not good.”

__

Sora has just dropped back down from gathering a few rushrooms for the older man at the stables when Riku finally walks out from the tent. The sun has just dipped below the horizon bathing the canyon’s dusty orange walls in a soft pink glow that colors them red. Sora whips out his slate for a picture as Riku yawns.

“Are you ready to go?”

Sora snaps his photo before turning to Riku and snorting. “Yeah, are you sure you are?”

Riku frowns a bit, oblivious to the absolute mess that his long hair has tangled itself into. Sora gleefully takes a quick picture before prancing to his side. The Sheikah’s face flushes enough to match the red canyon walls, his shoulders rising as he gruffly begins untangling his hair.

“Woah, no!” Sora immediately grabs at his wrists. “You’re gonna give yourself split ends, Riku!” He quickly darts over to their extra bags still hanging on Braveheart. After fiddling around in their stuff for a bit, Sora triumphantly brandishes a comb. “I’ll brush it out for you real quick.”

Riku won’t meet his eye, “that isn’t necessary...”

“Oh, trust me, I’ll be quick!” Sora steers Riku over to the log bench and shoves a freshly cooked kabob into his hands. “Here, eat that as I work my magic.” Riku makes a weak sound of protest. “I used to brush Kairi’s hair all the time. I _got_ this.”

That’s what makes Riku stop complaining. After a second more, he bites into the meat and mushroom skewer with a hum of approval. 

“Making you cook was the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Ehehe.” Despite the knots, Riku’s hair still feels silky smooth to the touch. Sora runs his fingers through the strands, letting them slide from his fingers before a knot halts the process. His eyes narrow in concentration as the comb is swiftly but gently put to use.

As Sora makes quick work of the mess, the senior-looking manager of the stables approaches them.

“You young ones are headed out into the desert, yes?”

Sora nods, “That’s right, Sir!”

“...If you don’t mind, I have one more request of you then.” It’s the worry on his face that makes them both pause. “Our newest employee, a young man named Jameson rather fond of his leather coat, left to deliver an emergency correspondence to the Gerudo Tribe. We have a set drop-off point with the city guard at the Kara Kara Bazaar...” He sighs, “it’s a day’s journey there and back, but he’s been gone for over three now.”

Riku and Sora exchange a look.

Riku takes his smoothed-out hair from Sora’s hands and quickly begins putting it up in a bun. “Emergency correspondence?”

The old man nods, “yes, lad— from the Zora, surprisingly enough.”

Riku’s eyes tighten, but Sora smiles enough to appease the old man. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep an eye out for him!”

The old man nods and sees them off.

It’s only as they reach the edge of the desert that Sora speaks again.

“Do you think it’s too much of a coincidence? Isa promised to write a letter— and the guy making a delivery for the Zora goes missing?”

Riku’s frown is a hard line. “I don’t like it. We need to keep our guard up as we cross the dunes.”

Both of them pause as the dusty ground beneath their feet gives way to sand.

The sun is now gone from the sky, which is now a deep purple with stars reflecting on the great expanse around them. A soft breeze sends far away sand into the air, like little clouds forming off the ground. The lone cactus stands against the wind, its pink voltfruits looking like flowers in bloom.

As the gust reaches them, Sora forces himself to suppress a shiver. Riku takes a step forward, and his feet sink a bit.

“The more we move, the warmer we’ll be.” 

“Well,” Sora waves a hand forward. “Lead the way Riku.”

It’s slow going through the night. Eventually, they have to whip out those warming potions that Riku made earlier because constantly moving isn’t doing anything for either of them.

Still, progress is only hindered here or there by the occasional Electric lizalfos— ‘sneaky bastards,’ Sora had shouted as one jumped out of the sand in a surprise attack. Riku had been so horrified at his language that he had nearly been impaled with the monster’s spear, which would have been hilarious in a non-life or death circumstance. When the skirmish was over, Sora moved to take the lead so Riku couldn’t see him rolling his eyes at the sudden lecture to ‘mind his profanity.’

He’s still lecturing him when Sora trips hard over something in the sand, falling face-first into the cold ground.

"Sora!"

He quickly sits up coughing, "I'm-" he hacks on some sand. "I'm good." Sora roughly wipes his face off with the inside of his shirt as he sits up. "I wonder what that was?"

Riku, jogs back over to him. "Probably a rock buried in the sand."

Sora sits on the ground and leans over to the brown protruding mass. It has stitches. "Maybe a traveler dropped something?"

Together they brush back the sand. Moments later, they both freeze as the back of a dead man wearing a leather jacket is exposed.

"Sora..."

"Yeah?"

"Didn't the stable manager say that his employee wore a leather coat?"

"...Yeah."

The wind blows some sand across the dunes. Sora brushes more sand away then hisses when the cause of death is exposed-- two x-shaped slashes on his back. "Well," he weakly laughs. "That's not good." When Riku says nothing, Sora looks back up and feels worry seize him. Even in the moonlight, Riku is deathly pale- lips pinched into a thin line. "Riku?"

"The yiga killed him."

Sora blinks, "the who?"

"The yiga." Riku immediately stands up. "We need to get out of the area."

"But who are the Yiga?"

Riku's voice is curt, "Later, Sora. We need to move."

"But-"

" _Now_."

Together they take off, quickly leaving the body behind in the dark sands. Once Riku deems they are a safe enough distance, they slow down to a walk-- Kara Kara Bazaar is in sight. 

"The yiga," It's the first he's spoken since they resumed moving. "Are a group of Sheikah who turned against the Goddess and Royal family- heretics who worship and revere Ganon."

Sora's eyes bulge, "There are people who worship _that_?"

"The Yiga felt slighted when the King of Hyrule, ten thousand years ago, decreed that they give up their technological advancements. The Sheikah tribe had developed many new tools to fight the calamity— only for the royal family to turn right around and decree them the next threat. Some Sheikah agreed to give up their old ways. Some didn't." Riku looks up to the sky. "Much of my culture was lost either at the hands of the Hylians or to the clutches of misguided evil." 

“Riku...”

“It’s fine. It happened a long time ago.” He sighs, “I would be lying if I said it didn’t bother me, though. I’ve always wondered what the Sheikah society was like back in its prime...” He trails off, looking into the night sky with a wistful expression. Then it’s gone as he looks back at the road ahead of them. “I don’t let it get to me anymore.”

Sora hums with a frown on his face. “Still, that’s pretty fucked up.”

Riku barks a laugh before attempting to smother it with a cough. “Yes, well...” He clears his throat. “The Yiga is a threat to Hyrule and the hero. I thought they disappeared with the calamity’s resurgence, but it seems that the catastrophe has only brought more to their ranks. Be it those seeking the might of the Ganon or simply out of fear to avoid being killed in return... who knows.” Riku looks to Sora. “They’re not a group to be taken lightly.”

Sora nods, grim determination on his face. “I won’t let them stop me. No matter what evil comes my way, it won’t get the best of me.” He pauses. “Again.”

Riku brings his hand to Sora’s shoulders. He looks nervous. “I told you, didn’t I?” They stop walking. The moonlight makes Riku’s hair shine brighter than any star in the night sky. His green eyes stand out even more so tho, imploring and concerned. Riku shifts his gaze from his hand on Sora’s shoulder to his face.

“You don’t have to do it alone...”

Sora feels warm inside. It’s different, though, from when Kairi visits or the heat potion he just took. It’s a comforting warmth, vaguely familiar, that makes him feel safe.

A slow, soft smile blooms on Sora’s face. “I know. I have you to help me, Riku.”

Riku gives a small smile in turn.

Sora’s heart skips a beat. Weird, maybe the heat potion is defective. Sora laughs it off. “Well, com’on then, partner! Time’s a wastin!!”

Riku chuckles as his hand falls and they begin trudging through the sand once more. “You’re right, you’re right.”

“I’m always right! Oh!!” Sora turns around, walking backward while grinning at Riku. “I was right about that Statis bolder trick too! I did it to get up the wasteland tower.”

“Wait— you _what_?”

___

Sora is two seconds away from slapping his hands over Riku’s mouth to make him shut up when the Gerudo guard at the oasis slams the butt of her spear down into the ground with a slam.

“Halt! State your names and business, Voe!”

Riku steps forward, “Master Riku of the Sheikah tribe, I’m a diplomat here on behalf of Grand Master Ava in regards to reports of Yiga sightings.”

Sora has never heard Riku bullshit so smoothly that his jaw almost drops.

The guard nods before she immediately looks to Sora, not relaxing for a second. “And you? Name and business.”

“I’m Sora,” he smiles confidently, thumping his hand against his chest. “Wandering trader, looking to make a few deals.”

The guard’s eye’s narrow, “yet your wares are nowhere to been seen—“

Sora pulls an apple out of the tablet.

The Gerudo’s eyes bulge under her helm. “In the name of Hylia...”

He keeps pulling out items— flint, apples, carrots, pumpkins, radishes; until there are several small piles at his feet. Sora spreads his arms, “I think all these commodities are welcome here, yes?”

The guard’s woman rubs at her forehead, absolutely dumbfounded.

Riku glares at Sora, “I could have just told her that you’re my travel companion. There’s no need to pull all of this out.”

Sora pouts, “but Riku! They have voltfruits, hydro melons, and coconuts! Don’t you want a coconut? I don’t see the harm in doing a little trading on the side.”

Both Riku and the guard sigh. She walks forward, towering over both of them, handing each a small card on a string. “Please wear these; it is permission to remain here and proof of identity. Pass along your message to the owner of the inn, Sheikah.” That’s all she says before stalking a few feet away and resuming her watch.

“You made her life so much more stressful just now,” says Riku wearily.

According to the tablet, Sora starts putting it all away because it’s a little past three in the morning, and no reasonable vendor is awake right now. “Her life, or your life?”

Riku starts walking to the inn. “Both!” He shouts over his shoulder, leaving Sora to clean up his mess.

Sora pouts harder.

As he finishes cramming everything into the tablet, Sora stands back up— stretching out his back with a whine. “ _Oh,_ I’m gonna feel that in the morning.” Then he remembers that it is morning and sighs.

The sky isn’t as deep a color as before, making him think that dawn is not far off. Sora stands there and decides that a photo is in order. He takes a step back, accidentally stepping off the stone ground and into the sand. The stumble makes him swipe on the tablet— back to the memory photos.

Sora pauses.

Looks up.

Then looks back down.

There’s a photo of the Kara Kara Baazar.

Riku still hasn’t come back yet from the inn, but Sora doesn’t want to pull him away from important business. So he set’s off to try and find the precise location himself.

It turns out, not too far off from where the night shift guard relocated herself. She eye’s him wearily, but Sora ignores her, looking for that sweet spot. He stops, looks down at the image, then back up at the Bazaar.

Hmm...It looks about right maybe if he squints—

___

_Kairi’s bowstring snaps as she tries to draw another arrow. Her colorful swears are cut short as Sora shoves her behind him. His breathing is ragged and while there are no wounds on his body— his stamina is starting to dwindle._

_Multiple bodies litter the ground, but more are standing. The skin-tight red suits of their enemies are reminiscent of the color of blood. A familiar symbol rests on their masks, the Sheikah mind’s eye with its teardrop._

_Expect it’s in red ink and upside down._

_Sora can feel Kairi’s fear from behind him as he defensively raises his sword. “You Yiga scoundrels!!” She shouts, despite her shaking. “Get lost!!”_

_There’s a scattering of laughter at her words. Kairi’s fear is quickly replaced by annoyance and she stands straighter. Sora takes his attention off the enemies to shoot her a look of, ‘don’t do anything stupid.’_

_It’s a mistake._

_The Yiga lurch forward as one. Sora shoves Kairi back. There’s no way he can intercept them all at once—_

_The hair on his arms stands up as the air turns thick with energy._

_Sora grins maniacally as he lunges back towards Kairi and drags her down to the ground with him._

_Lightning strikes true from the heavens, causing all Yiga members to **screech** as volts of electricity courses through their bodies._

_A laugh as sharp as a blade cuts through the sound and Sora looks up with relief, a giant grin on his face._

_“Vanitas!”_

_The lone Gerudo male stands there in traditional voe armor from ages past. His scimitar is drawn in an attacking stance. His grin is feral, and his narrowed eyes trained on the Yiga._

_“Long time no see, my friend.”_

_Sora points to the collapsed bodies with his spare hand as he pulls himself and Kairi back up to their feet. “Well, I was a smidge busy.”_

_A couple of Yiga stumble back onto their feet only to make a hasty retreat. One looks back, once towards Kairi, then to vanitas. Sora raises the master sword and it glows vibrant blue at his will. That’s what finally sends them all fleeing._

_Vanitas laughs, sheathing his blade before casually swinging an arm around Sora’s shoulders._

_“I’m always free for vermin hunting.” Then he glances at the sword in Sora’s hands before looking begrudgingly impressed. “Looks like you got yourself a new toy.”_

_Sora shrugs before sheathing it. “Hey, as long as it cuts.”_

_Vanitas throws back his head as he barks out a laugh. “Only you would say that about the Master Sword.”_

_Sora throws an arm around Vanitas, returning the gesture with his cocky smile when a cough from Kairi catches their attention. Her eyes are darting between the two of them. “Um, thank you for the assistance, er, Vanitas, was it?”_

_Vanitas’s expression is carefully blank while Sora slaps his forehead with his other hand._

_“Oh right! Kairi, this is my friend Vanitas. He and I go waaaaaay back!” Sora points to the Princess of Hyrule and the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia. “Vanitas, this is Kairi! I’m teaching her archery. Did you see any of her shots?”_

_Vanitas merely arches an eyebrow. “Kairi?”_

_Kairi stares back for a moment before she carefully smiles, “... yes, Kairi, Sora’s archery student.”_

_A look of amusement crosses Vanitas’s face, “You know you share a name with the Princess the Hylian kingdom?”_

_Kairi brushes the sand off her white pants. “I get that a lot. But the princess is supposedly in the Farosh region at the moment.”_

_Vanitas hums, “that so?”_

_Kairi folds her hands behind her back and rocks on her heels. “Yu-p! Did you know you share a name with the young Gerudo chief?”_

_Vanitas laughs once more, shoulders relaxing under Sora’s arm. “I get that a lot, Just Kairi.”_

_Sora looks back and forth between the two of them._

_“Are y’all done? I wanna go seal surfing.”_

_Kairi lights up as Vanitas's grin turns sharp._

_“Oh, I’ve always wanted to try that!”_

_“Well, what are we waiting for? Come, let me enjoy leaving you all in the dust.”_

_“Is that challenge Vanitas?”_

_“Oh, my friend, it would be if you could beat me.”_

_“Hey!”_

_Kairi laughs as she catches up with the two, eagerly asking questions about life in the desert._

___

A large handshaking Sora’s shoulder brings him back to the present.

The female guard from before is looming beside him, a frown on her face with some concern.

“Little voe, are you... good?”

Sora takes a second before nodding. “Yeah, yeah, sorry about that.” He looks back to the Oasis as the sky is shifting from midnight black to a soft teal. “Just remembering some old friends.”

“Hey, Sora!” Sora jolts, looking back over to the Inn. Riku waves his way, gesturing to join him. Sora waves back before looking to the Guredo guard.

“Thank you for checking on me. Uh, sorry, what was your name?”

The woman stands tall and proud, “I am called Barta.”

Sora smiles, “thanks, Barta.” As she returns to her post, Sora finally makes his way back to Riku. “What’s up?” Riku’s face is tense, which doesn’t make Sora feel any better. “Did we get turned down?”

“No, not that.” Riku pulls Sora a bit away from the door of the Inn. “The Innkeeper said that she doesn’t have time to relay our message to the Guerdo chief in town. The Divine beast roaming around makes it unwise to travel the distance right now.” Riku sighs, “nor did she get any message on our behalf from Prince Isa.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah,” Riku rubs at the back of his neck. “On top of Vah Naboris, security is incredibly tight around here. I think that something might have happened.”

“Something like what?” Sora cocks his head to the side, “like with the Yiga? And that’s why Barta didn’t question why you were here?”

Riku blinks, “Barta?”

Sora jerks his thumb over his shoulder without looking back. “Barta.”

“Oh, the guard. But, yes, that’s my thought exactly.” Riku sighs, finally dropping the hand on his neck. “The Guerdo are proud people. It’s not like they’re going to admit that they need outside help. Not unless it’s offered in a way that won’t offend.”

“But the Innkeeper won’t even let the town know we’re here to help!”

Riku kicks his shin, effectively shutting Sora up. “Shh, they’re letting us stay in good hospitality but want us to wait until this blows over.”

Sora kneels, rubbing his leg, “you didn’t have to kick me so hard.”

“Oh please, that won’t hurt you. You’re tougher than that.”

Sora lights up, “you think so?”

Riku turns away, “I’m going to sleep now.”

“Oi!”

___

As Riku sleeps the day away, Sora wanders the Bazaar. An older Gerudo is happy to trade off some of her desert delicacies with Sora’s forest forging. After a bit of meandering around, he finds his way back to Barta, asking for a few spear pointers.

This ends up drawing a bit of a crowd with other Gerudo Soldiers on their off-shift. 

When Riku next wakes up around noon, Sora is smack dab in the middle of a group of towering Gerudo led by the innkeeper through a series of drills. He stares at them all for a moment in the entryway before laughing to himself and going back to bed.

As thanks for putting everyone in a better mood, the Innkeeper shares her recipe for a hearty radish soup with Sora. In an effort to keep things fair, Sora shows her how to make a tough pumpkin stew to help boost defense.

Riku wakes up once more in the evening to Sora nudging him with his foot, balancing a bowl of soup in either hand. “Rise and Shine!”

Riku scowls before turning on his side towards Sora. “Get your feet away from me.” He pulls the blanket up to his chin. “I don’t know where they’ve been.”

“Same place as you, oh ever-sleeping guide.”

Riku groans before forcing himself to sit up in a show of effort, eyes still closed. Sora slowly moves the bowl just by Riku’s face and has to bite his cheek to hold back a laugh as Riku’s nose follows the bowl. Then his eyes finally open.

“What’s this?”

“New recipe, courtesy of our lovely hostess slash Innkeeper, Kachoo.” Sora holds the bowl up in a toast to said Gerudo, who waves from her perch at the reception desk some feet away.

Riku blinks at her, then down at the soup in Sora’s hands. “There are hearts in it.”

“Well, duh, it’s a hearty radish soup. Eat up!”

When Riku doesn’t do anything else, Sora just puts a bowl in his lap before sitting on the side of the bed and digging into his food.

After another minute, Riku finally accepts he’s no longer dreaming and eats as well. He pauses after a bite or two before going, “...how did you get a Gerudo to give one of their most secret recipes to you?”

Sora hums as he chews his food, “well, we spared earlier? Chatted for a bit— they liked my impersonations of you. Oh, a few were looking for a heart-shaped pond, so I looked on the tablet map and was able to find it. Something about it being a legendary place to find true love and whatnot. They were excited to get the directions there. I found a broken heart-shaped pond at first though, one of them was really excited about that, not too sure why.” Sora eats another bite, chewing thoughtfully. “But that’s about it.”

Riku stares at him, jaw slightly hanging.

Sora swallows yet another spoonful of soup, “If you don’t eat that-” he jabs his spoon towards Riku’s bowl- “I will.” A laugh spills from Sora as Riku protectively clutches at his food.

Midway through their meal, Kachoo makes her rounds, lighting candles for the night. She takes the empty bowls from them but hesitates a second longer.

“... I trust you are both aware of the rules for Gerudo town.” Her tone is just above a murmur, not looking directly at either of them.

Sora and Riku exchange a quick look before simultaneously nodding.

“Voe...” she emphasizes the word. “... are forbidden.” Kachoo looks at them, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “But Vai are not.” With that, she reaches up and draws a veil over the lower half of her face. Then the Innkeeper walks off.

Sora blinks, “what was that about?”

There’s an audible smack from beside him, and Sora looks over to see Riku hunched over, head in his hands.

“...Riku?”

“I should have stayed in bed.”

“... But you still are— Whoa!?”

Riku grabs Sora by the shoulder and pulls him in close— close enough for him to the specs of gold among the green in his eyes. He puts a single finger to his lips before hissing, “She told us how to get into Gerudo town.” 

Sora blinks again before whispering back. “She did?”

Riku nods, “Yes... we have to pretend to be Vai.”

Sora’s eyes bulge. Riku barely manages to stop him from shouting in surprise by quickly slapping a hand over his mouth.

“ _Shh_.”

Sora pries Riku’s hand off of him. “Sorry. But how do we do that?”

Riku stands up for a second, starting to tie his hair back up before stopping and leaving it down.

“Well, Sora,” Riku smiles his way. “I think it’s time we hit the market.”

___

A little while later, Kachoo is fixing Sora’s spiky hair flat with a serum. “Oh, if only you were a little taller.”

“Huh?”

She pats Sora’s head, “nothing, little _Vai_.” According to her, the teal veil that covers the front half of Sora’s face compliments his eyes. The rest of the outfit is delicately stitched poncho pants, slippers, and a crop top with sheer off-the-shoulder sleeves. Riku’s ensemble is similar, yet green and white rather than Sora’s teal and gold.

Kachoo looks them both over before nodding, “you should be fine. Now, best of luck.”

Riku’s long hair slips over his shoulders as he bows to her, “thank you for your hospitality.”

Sora nods with a wave, “I’ll see you, Kachoo!”

Despite the warnings, the desert trail to Gerudo town is empty save for a few men dejectedly walking back to the bazaar— who immediately perk up when spotting the two.

“Well, helloooo ladies-”

Riku breezes right past them. Sora waves, “and goodbye!” Over his shoulder, leaving the men in the dust.

As the two of them reach the entrance to the town, day is breaking. The guards don’t even say anything as they walk on in, standing at attention with their eyes trained on the sand.

Water streams down from a high pillar of rock centered behind a massive building—blue tile shimmers in small channels, canals, and artificial waterfalls. The guards’ women are sporadic at best throughout the central district, with towering palm trees swaying in the heat along the path up to a giant set of stairs and a building.

Sora looks around at the shops around the central square. “Woah! Riku, check it out. They have a jewelry store—“ Someone in a cloak topples right into him.

As Sora hits the ground with an ‘oomph,’ the person on top of him quickly gets back up, a soft voice apologizing. Sora looks and sees a Gerudo with a petite face, worriedly looking back at him. Unlike the rest of the Gerudo, she has jet black hair and vibrant blue eyes.

Just like Vanitas.

“Oh, I’m so sorry—“

Then everything goes black.

___

_Sora waves his mom off as she enters Gerudo Town to meet with her seller._

_The guards around this city are more preoccupied with their job than him. Sora wanders around the perimeter of the wall trying to steal glances in. It’s something he does every time his mom comes to do business within the city and she just laughs at his curiosity. A few feet from the town’s wall before a shadow dropping from the wall catches his attention... by falling right on top of him._

_“Hello, my friend.”_

_Sora groans as the figure on top of him laughs, a sand cloud settling around them. “Do you really have to do this every time, Vanitas?”_

_“Yes,” comes the smug answer. The weight on top of him disappears as Vanitas pulls him to his feet. The light-colored cloak flares out dramatically as he leans back against the wall of the town. “You know I always have to reenact how we first met, sand in your pants and all.” Vanitas puts on a high falsetto voice, “what do you mean you’re running away? It’s dangerous to go alone. I’ll go with you!”_

_Sora shoves at Vanitas as the two of them laugh at the memory. “I was, like, ten, and you were a baby!”_

_“We’re the same age—“_

_“You’d never left your house before and it totally showed. I wasn’t going to watch you wander into some ruins all by yourself.”_

_Now Vanitas rolls his eyes, walking off towards the very same ruins off in the distance. “You didn’t even have a sword at the time.”_

_“That didn’t stop me from punching that Bokoblin!”_

_Vanitas barks out a laugh as the wind picks up. Out of habit, his hand grabs at the hem of the cloak’s hood he is wearing, keeping it from being blown off his head. “That’s true, you just turned around after that like— ‘what are friends for?’ All proud of yourself.”_

_“And then I got ambushed.”_

_Vanitas nods as they walk, “and then you got ambushed, yes.”_

_Sora jumps ahead, walking backward as he looks at Vanitas. “But then you saved me with your super cool lightning powers!”_

_When Vanitas stops smiling, Sora stops walking._

_“...Did something happen?”_

_When Vanitas smiles again, it’s cruel and doesn’t meet his eyes. “Oh, more of the same. My people are calling for my head, vocally... quietly. One maid almost got away with poisoning me...” He starts moving again, aggressively stalking past Sora as he goes. “I’ll show them.”_

_“Vanitas?” Sora jogs to catch up in the sand._

_“I’ll show them. I’m not Ganon; I’m not the monster everyone keeps saying I am-!” He stops in place as Sora places a hand on his arm. Their skin tones contrast drastically, but Sora doesn’t put any pressure on his grip just rests his hand there._

_“I know you’re not. One day, they’ll realize it too.” Sora stands firm as he says, “Tell me if you ever need help, I’ll be there. I swear.”_

_Vanitas stares at him for a second too long before moving forward and continuing to walk towards the ruins. Then he stops. “Sora...” The wind picks up for a moment, but not enough to cover the words that are spoken_

_“Thank you.”_

_Sora grins, surging forward before slinging an arm around Vanitas’s shoulders, causing him to stumble for a moment._

_“Like I said, what are friends for!!”_

___

Sora sits up fast with a gasp, causing several people to flinch in turn. As he pants, it takes a moment to place his surroundings. Instead of the central marketplace, he’s lying down in an empty back alley. From before, the cloaked Guerdo is on his left, with Riku on his right, each bearing identical worried expressions. Front and center is a Gerudo guard with glittering jewels and an impressive broadsword.

Sora looks to Riku. “S-Sorry about that. I’m good.”

Riku stares at him a little longer, “are you sure?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just, uh, memories.”

As Riku’s eyebrows go high, Sora turns to the younger Gerudo. “Sorry for the scare, are you alright..., uh, miss?”

The Guerdo sighs, “not miss.” They pull down their hood, fully revealing choppy black hair. “I’m Xion. I use Vey pronouns, not Vai or Voe ones.”

Sora blinks twice, “Sorry, still learning Gerudo. What does Vey mean?”

“No gender.”

“Oh, cool. Well, I’m Sora. Nice to meet you, Xion.”

Xion still frowns at him, but it’s tinged with concern. “Are you sure you’re alright? I feel horrible about running into you so hard that you fainted.”

Sora waves it off as he stands up. “Don’t worry about it; shit happens.” Riku smacks his arm at the curse, but Sora just ignores it. “Sorry about the trouble.”

Xion stares at him some more before shaking their head. “I can’t help but feel that I should be the one apologizing to you... but here, the reverse is happening.”

Sora just shrugs with a smile, “don’t worry about it.” He stares at Xion for a little longer before something clicks. “Oh, shit, wait! Riku, didn’t you say the Gerudo chief had black hair?”

Riku just stares at Sora. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nonono, I swear you said that before...” Sora trails off before looking at the heavily decorated guard. 

It’s quiet for a moment. 

“Ooooh.”

Xion looks to Sora then Riku. “I see why you’re traveling with him.” Riku’s face is pained for a moment before Sora perks up.

“Did he mention that we were looking for you?”

The Royal guard finally speaks. “Our guard intercepted a letter off a Yiga spy of Zora royalty. Given the urgency of the situation and the recent Yiga activity, The Chief thought it best to travel in disguise.” Her eyes narrow before she speaks again. “And yet, here you voe are in our city.”

“Bularia,” Xion’s tone is that of a warning. The guardswoman says no more, but her glare doesn’t lessen any further. “Forgive my captain; these are tense times. I’m willing to look the other way, considering that a Sheikah is here as well.”

Sora and Riku exchange a look.

“Thank you,” Sora starts as he moves to stand up. “How did you know that Riku is Sheikah.

Xion gives a one-armed shrug, “we don’t get many Sheikah in these parts. The hair is hard to ignore.”

Sora laughs for a moment. “That’s funny coming from you.”

Both the guard and Riku stiffen but Xion bursts out laughing. “You’re not wrong, oh hero.”

Sora feels his smile slip a bit. “Oh, you know who I am.”

“I always know who is in my city. We did receive a letter after all.” Sora can see Riku sweat a bit at his expense. “But,” Xion continues. “The timing could not be more opportune.” 

Their last words are nearly drowned out as an earth-shattering cry echoes in the air, shaking the land. Despite rumbling moving the walls around them, Xion stands upright, proud and strong as they say, “I need you to help me take down Vah Naboris, Champion. But first,” They look directly at Riku. “I need you to do what you promised.”

Riku takes off the veil now that the gig is up. “Which would be what?”

“Why, what you told my innkeeper what you were here for, good Sheikah. The Yiga.”

Riku's smile doesn’t meet his eyes. “Ah, you knew about that too?”

Xion’s returning smile is as empty as his. “As I said, I know who is in my city. But back to the matter at hand.” 

Bularia steps forward with a pained look on her face. “The Yiga stuck in the dead of night a few days ago. They stole an heirloom of ages past right from the Chief's rooms, the Thunderhelm.”

Sora immediately looks to Xion in worry. “Are you okay?”

A look of surprise flits across Xion’s face before it settles into something warm. “Yes, thank you for asking. But, it’s the helm that is cause for concern.”

Riku more so speaks to himself as he thinks aloud. “That does explain the increase in security. So, I’m assuming you would like for us to get it back?”

“If you would be so kind.”

“And to do so in secret?”

Xion smiles again, “If possible.”

A _clack_ of glass startles their party.

There’s a small goddess statue on the opposite wall; in its shadow lies an older Gerudo woman slumped up against it drinking out of a brown liquor bottle. Another bottle, the one that made the noise, rolls towards them. 

Sora blinks at that, looks up into the sky. “It’s not even mid-day.”

The older Guerdo grumbles something about it being evening somewhere else before taking a swig from the bottle in her hand. Xion adjusts their cloak, swiftly drawing up the hood as the old woman speaks again. “If you’re looking for the Yiga,” she croaks. “Then try the edge of the highlands. I’ve seen moving red specks that certainly not tumbleweeds.”

“Are you certain that’s just not the alcohol?” Comes a grumble from Bularia.

Sora ignores the comment stepping forward. “Sarqso, ma’am.”

She laughs; it’s a rough sound that does nothing to hide her age. “Do not thank me, pancake. I’m sending you to the wolves.”

“Eh, that’s not so bad.”

Riku leans over to sora and whispers, "why is she calling you pancake?'

"Probably because I'm short but stacked?"

Riku's eyes bulge for a hot second before Xion loses it. Bularia is eyeing her spear like she isn't sure whether to use it on herself or Sora-- who ignores all of this and turns back to the older Guerdo Woman.

"So how far out would you say the hideout is from here, Ma'am?"

The older woman smirks, "not too far out, about a day's ride at least. You'll have to be sneaky to make it to and from there, pancake.” She gives sora an obvious one over before continuing. "Something tells me you have no problem being sneaky, though."

Riku makes a pained noise, barely auditable, over Xion's constant laughter. Sora nods, "Thanks for your help!"

"Any time," she croons before laying back down.

Riku puts his head in his hands, "does _everyone_ know that we're voe?"

Xion pat's his shoulder. "Speak any louder, and they will." She smiles, though, "You both make compelling Vai; it’s just that to those of us who know what to look for, it's obvious. If you do nothing bad, then most Gerudo will let it slide." Xion rolls a shoulder as they shift their feet. “Gender is an idea from the past. While some Gerudo embrace their feminine identity, others have never felt fully comfortable with it and have chosen to identify as Voe instead.”

Sora nods his head. “Or Vey.”

Xion’s smile turns kinder as they nod in turn. “Or Vey.”

Bularia slams the butt of her spear down, "if disrespect in our way is shown, then those people will answer to me."

Sora and Riku frantically nod.

Vah Naboris cries out in the distance, bringing the mood back to a sobering tone.

"Chief Xion," Riku drops to a knee bowing his head in respect. "On behalf of the Sheikah, I will see to it that the Yiga will pay for their crimes against your tribe."

Xion stands a little straighter, "I look forward to it, young Master."

"You're one to talk," Sora puts his hands behind his head. "You're younger than both of us, Xion."

As Riku stands back up, Xion smiles. "Be that as it may, all of us are still in positions of importance. People are always watching, even if we are young." Xion nods to them both, "Bring me back the thunder helm, heroes."

__

The thing with breaking into a cult of evil is that they have to be sneaky.

Sora knows he’s not the quietest person in the world, but he can’t help but feel a little insulted when Riku even tries to suggest that he stay behind. Whatever expression he makes at those words makes Riku drop the subject. Instead, he goes forward with making silencing potions instead and loans Sora one of his combat outfits. He hasn’t seen Riku wear it since the Lynel incident, so Sora can’t stop himself from admiring just how cool Riku looks in the form-fitting gear.

“...are you even listening?”

Sora’s eyes snap up from Riku’s chest to his face. He’s immediately grateful that Riku is more focused on tying his hair up than actually looking at Sora. That could have been weird...

...wait, why would it be weird?

“Sora?”

“Sorry, sorry, practicing being quiet.”

Riku just frowns a bit before tugging up the mask that covers the lower half of his face. Sora quickly does the same.

“Ready?”

“Yeah.”

The hideout is exactly where the old Gerudo said it would be, tucked away in a crack in the highlands. Patrolling the corridors are Yiga members that could give Namine’s assistance a run for their money. They’re so buff that Sora wouldn’t be surprised if they bench-pressed rocks or something. He and Riku exchange a worried look but quietly sneak above the patrols in some rafters. 

At one point, Sora does fuck up when he spots a banana on a ledge. It’s so weirdly out of place that he can’t help himself and lean over to grab it. Riku immediately lunges forward to stanch him back, only for Sora’s hand to knock into the fruit, sending it tumbling over the edge.

The guard whirls around at the faint noise and Sora holds his breath. But his heart is pounding so fast; it’s a surprise that the Yiga can’t hear that too. They’re both pressed up against the wall as flat as possible. Sora can feel Riku’s palms sweating as he clutches at his arm.

The Yiga stares down at the bananas. 

If he looks up, they’re screwed.

The guard continues to stare at the bananas, then looks up and down the hall. Then the Yiga squeals in delight.

“Oh goodness gracious, me, oh my!” 

Riku slaps a hand over Sora’s mouth to keep him from bursting out laughing.

A deice giggles from the Yiga as he does a little dance. 

Sora slaps a hand over Riku’s mouth now.

Seeing a muscular Yiga patrol get giddy like a literal child and abandon their post for bruised fruit really kills all levels of intimidation.

They make it to the hideout’s end through a hidden door that Riku unlocks, revealing an extensive open clearing in the mountainside, excluding the giant pit in the middle.

Sora and Riku ignore this, though. They take one look at each other and that’s all it takes for the two to burst out laughing. Riku doubles over, clutching his sides, but Sora can’t even stand anymore. He leans into Riku, laughing hard into his shoulder.

“Holy Hylia!”

Riku laughs even harder, “he-he danced!”

“He giggled!!”

It sends them into an absolute mess of laughs that echoes in the chamber, but neither pays much attention to that. As the laughter dies down, Riku stands back upright, chuckles fading from him as he looks down at Sora. “You good there?”

Sora looks up, laughter still dancing from his lips. That stops when he sees just how close he is to Riku’s face. His eyes are the main thing that he notices, always vibrant and clear, like an emerald glittering with joy. Sora sees something in his face shift as Riku’s breath catches. They’re both frozen at the lack of space, the sudden humor from before gone and replaced with... something else, something charged.

The air feels like... Vanitas’s power.

Wait.

Sora’s eyes fly wide as he lunges back several feet from where they were standing, dragging Riku back with him as a bolt of lightning scorches the ground where they once stood.

“Well, well well...” an oily voice purrs.

Riku’s face pales, his body rigged at the sound as they spring apart. A shadow of darkness appears a few feet from the pit. A masked Yiga member walks out of it in front of them. This one’s outfit is a bit different from the rest, though. It’s a black uniform with a light hood to go over the head.

“Braig.”

The masked Yiga member rips off his mask with a loud laugh. An older man with scars on his face and bright yellow eyes grins maniacally at them.

“That’s the name, don’t wear it out.”

“I thought you were dead...” Riku’s voice is strained.

Briag laughs, “funny, I thought the same of you, kiddo.” Sora can see Riku flinch out of the corner of his eye. “It’s been sometime...” He trails off, looking at Sora. “And who’s the new kid?” Sora opens his mouth to respond when Braig cuts him off. “Actually, it doesn’t matter.”

Sora feels his eye twitch. “Oi!”

“So what brings you young’ens to my humble abode.”

“We’re here for the thunder helm!” Sora announces.

“Oho?” With a flick of his wrist, an intricate golden mask appears in his hand. “You mean this old thing? I never even wanted it...” Braig hums, eyeing the seared ground. “Can’t say it doesn’t have its uses, though.” He sighs as if this whole conversation is a massive inconvenience for him. “One of my underlings snagged it hoping for a promotion.” He laughs, cold and cruel. “So, naturally, I killed him.”

Sora balks, “What!?”

“I need people that will follow orders, Kiddo, not rouges.” His eyes narrow as he smiles towards Riku. “You would know that first hand, Riku.”

Sora turns towards Riku, “what is he talking about?”

Before Riku can say anything, Braig laughs once more. “Your friend here didn’t tell you? He used to be one of us!”

Sora’s jaw drops. Riku doesn't take his eyes off Braig as he shouts. “I renounced your darkness long ago!”

Braig just nods, “Oh, I remember! You ‘killed’ me to make it known how serious you were. Sent me right over a cliff!” The Yiga tosses the helm up in the air before catching it. “A for effort, I must say, not everyone can get so close to doing in the leader of the Yiga... Lucky for you, I’m the forgiving sort.” Braig tosses the helm right to Sora. “Here, as thanks for sparing my life. However unintentional!”

He laughs at his own joke before he goes uncharacteristically severe. “Next time we meet, I won't be so generous.”

Braig disappears in a cloud of darkness, leaving Sora and Riku standing alone. 

Sora looks at Riku, who stays silent for a moment.

“...You should return the helm.” 

Sora immediately lurches towards him, grabbing his arm so hard that Riku winces.

“No, _we_ need to return the thunder helm.”

Riku looks away, tense, glancing between Sora’s grip and the ground. 

“ _Riku_.”

“... go return the helm, Sora.”

“No.”

Riku’s head snaps up at that. “It needs to go back.”

“This is your quest.” Sora shoves the helm at Riku, who looks down at it in a loss before glaring at Sora. “You shouldn’t be so quick to trust others.”

Sora just gives Riku a flat look. “Riku, if you were still one of them, you would have killed me long ago.” Riku recoils a bit at the words, but before he can respond, Sora continues. “You never did though, you've had plenty of chances to, but you never did. It’s like you said, you renounced that darkness.”

Riku just stares down at the helm. “... and you believe me?” He looks up and his eyes are wide. Sora can see a bit of fear reflecting at him. “You still trust me? After knowing I used to be your enemy?”

Sora tugs down the mask so Riku can see him smile. “I’d like to think I’ve gotten to know my new friend better over our travels, Riku.”

Riku’s breath catches as Sora walks closer to him. “I’m never wrong about a person. And you-“ he pokes Riku’s chest- “are a good one. Besides, you’re my guide, Riku.” Sora gives him a soft smile. “I need you to show me the way.”

Surprise flits over Riku’s face before he turns sad. “Are you sure about that?”

“I wouldn’t say it if I wasn’t!”

A smile tugs at Riku’s mouth from beneath his mask, just for a second before he nods. “Then let’s get out of here.”

___

It’s night in the desert when they finally emerge from the hideout. Riku hesitantly states that it’s probably best to head right for the town, looking at Sora like he expects something other than Sora nodding his head in agreement.

“Let’s get going then!”

Sora doesn’t say anything more as they walk, aside from the occasional hum to liven up the night. It takes a bit, but Riku finally cracks.

“...Sora?”

Sora hums in response as they continue walking.

He hears Riku hesitate before he continues speaking. "You now know that... there was a time... where I was... sympathetic towards the Yiga's views. I initially learned to fight under their tutelage."

Sora staying quiet, listening to Riku haltingly speak.

"I've long since seen the error in my ways. But... I'd be lying if I didn't say it haunted me."

Riku pointedly doesn't look at Sora as he continues. So, Sora just nudges him as they walk side by side. "Hey, just because you did something bad this once doesn't mean that you're a bad guy Riku."

He scoffs, "Many would beg to differ."

"Hey, I'm the Hero and I've declared you a 'Good Guy,' and in case you forgot- my word is the law."

Riku stops walking.

Sora does too, turning back to look at him. Riku’s gaze pierces as he stares, searching for something before his face goes a little slack. “... you really don’t mind.” It’s a statement, not a question, because Sora doesn’t mind at all. He only just learned about the Yiga, sure past him has had some run-ins with them, but Riku has made it clear that he’s renounced that path. Attempting to kill your boss is a pretty effective resignation, after all. So he just smiles at Riku.

“Did you expect anything less?”

A bewildered laugh escapes Riku before he ducks his head, rubbing at the back of his neck. “With you, I shouldn’t have.” There’s a pause where a breeze picks up. “Thank you, Sora.”

“Why you are quite welcome, my dear Sheikah!”

Riku snorts, "Oh my god."

" _Goddess_."

"Ah, right, old habit." 

Sora smiles, then shivers in the night as the wind picks up once more. Riku pulls out a talisman that glows quickly before becoming a blue fire held in the palm of his hand.

"Duude!!" Sora immediately huddles closer. "Is that a Sheikah trick?"

"...Yiga, actually."

"So, it's Sheikah." At Riku's blank look, Sora continues. "Well, it was initially yours to begin with, right? So, it's not Yiga skill. It’s Sheikah. You've just taken it back it."

Riku stops walking, his face going slack at the words. 

Sora stops with him, "Am I wrong?"

Riku stands there for a moment before a chuckle slips out of him, growing in volume into a full-blown laugh. "No," He smiles at Sora, eyes crinkling. “You're right, Sora. You're absolutely right."

___

They still have to don their Vai outfits again to go to town to return the helm. Xion is delighted by their arrival despite the time of day and immediately tries it on.

It slips just a little off their head. 

Riku and Sora both choose to say that it suits them and are booked complimentary beds for the night at the inn. With the thunderhelm back in Gerudo hands, Xion explains that they can use it to escort them to the divine beast, not having to worry about the lightning it generates. The plan is to go at first light and meet by the outpost just outside of town.

When Sora gets up in the morning, surprised that he slept at all, Riku hesitates to follow him out the door. 

“The divine beasts are only for the champions to enter.”

“Says who?” Before Riku can say anything else, Sora waves him forward. “I want you with me. Come on, Riku.”

And that’s that.

Getting Vah Naboris proves to be a bit of a challenge. They have to stay within the protected area that Xion’s thunder helm generates but knock Vah Nobirs off its feet with bomb arrows.

In the end, Sora focuses on steering the seal while Riku fires away with the arrows. 

Once that is settled, they only have a few moments to sprint for the doorway to making on the machine. Sora can see Xion watching from a distance as Riku and he hastily board Vah Noboris before it restarts. They see the Gerudo wave before riding off on their sand seal back to the outpost as it gets to its feet. 

Sora stumbles as Vah Naboris begins to walk again, but a hand on his waist quickly steadies him.

An amused voice echoes around them. _[You’ve gotten clumsy, my friend.]_

Riku quickly lets go of Sora, who looks around frantically. “Vanitas?!”

_[I’m here... in spirit at least.]_

“...oh.”

_[Hey, what’s with that face? You have a job to do, don’t you?]_

Riku scowls for a second as Sora gathers himself and nods. “Of course, I’m here to help you. I promised to, no matter what.”

It is silent for a second amidst the whirring of gears metal.

Then a fond laugh fills the air. _[Well, don’t keep me waiting then.]_

___

_[There are five terminals to unlock.]_

“Five!? Vah Ruta only had three!”

_[This ain’t Ruta.]_

“B-but I’m not good with puzzles...”

___

“Riku, I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

_[Ooh, he’s turning red~.]_

“Oh no, are you overheating, Riku?”

“Let’s just move on.”

___

“Thank god you’re here, Riku!”

“You would have figured it out, Sora.”

“Actually, I wanted to just line up all my metal gear to carry the electrical current.”

“...”

_[...]_

“...Hey, where are you going?”

___

“Thank you so much, Riku!!”

“It’s fine.”

___

“Hylia, Riku—“

“I know.”

___

retrieving

“Did I tell you how glad I am that you’re here, Riku?”

Riku rolls his eyes as he completes the final puzzle to unlock the last terminal in Vah Naboris. Before he can say anything more, Sora takes off at a run to the main terminal. It’s already pulsing with light.

It only takes a moment for Vanitas’s presence to reappear now. _[You know what’s coming now, right?]_

Sora nods, retriving his gear defeated guardian crawlers. “Get ready, Riku.”

Riku doesn’t hesitate, drawing out his bow before asking. “What’s coming?”

The pulsing speeds up.

_[The thing that gave me a warrior's death.]_

Malice erupts up into the air before taking shape. A blight smaller than the first one Sora faced, twitching as electric currents race up and down its body. Like before, the figure cuts off at the waist, hovering in the air as it screams with pure hatred. A blue curved blade made of light forms on the end of one arm while a shield takes place on the others.

Sora can see Riku recoil in horror, much like he once did in Vah Ruta.

_“Do me a favor, Sora.”_

The thunder blight screeches once more before it waves its blade— lightning suddenly flashing down its length.

“Name it.”

_“Avenge me.”_

___

Sora slides to his back on the floor of the room, gasping for breath as the twitchy little fucker for a blight finally dies with one last scream. 

He had thrown Riku the tablet during the second phase of the fight when it summoned metal pillars to shock the room. Riku has quickly tucked himself into a far corner to use the magnesis rune to hurl the metal away from Sora, keeping him alive for the fight.

At one point, Sora has mistimed a deflection to a direct hit from the teleporting blight. Riku had screamed, Vanitas yelled— but all Sora heard was the cool rushing of waters as Aqua’s power brought him back from the brink. Her voice, soothing as the green light of healing, murmured that the battle wasn’t over.

Then he lunged back into action.

A few more hits, Riku’s sniper shots, and a shattered spear later— it’s finally over.

Sora spies Riku sprinting towards him, only slowing down as Sora holds a thumb up in the air.

“I’m good.” He wheezes in between gasps for air.

A shadow covers his face as Riku leans over him, his long hair spilling loose from what used to be a bun. 

“Hey...” Sora smiles up, his chest rapidly rising and falling as he catches his breath. 

“Hey.” Riku smiles back down at him. “20 rupees you fall asleep tonight.”

“Make it 30.” Sora raises his arm and without saying anything, Riku reaches to pull him back up to his feet.

“30 that you won’t sleep?”

“30 that I’ll knock the fuck out.”

Riku laughs at that. So does the ghostly figure standing by his side.

_“I like those odds.”_

Sora perks up, a grin splitting his smile. “Vanitas!” He surges forward to hug him, only to stumble as he phases right through spirit.

 _[Ah, well, you tried.]_ Vanitas is laughing at him, but Sora can see that he looks as sad as he feels. 

“Vanitas...”

_[Hey now, none of that. You’re supposed to be the happy one of the two of us.]_

“But...”

_[Sora.]_

Sora stops at that and looks up. 

Vanitas is not a person that he would have ever described as gentle, but that’s the expression on his face right now.

_[Thank you for freeing me.]_

Sora can’t help it, he sniffs as tears well up in his eyes. “I still haven’t avenged you.”

Vanitas’s smile becomes sharp, like he once knew. _[Not yet, you’ll need to kill Ganon to do that.]_

He stands up a little straighter. “You can count on that.”

Vanitas laughs now, [ _of course I can. But... just in case.]_ The Gerudo waves his hands with a flourish, a ball of light rushing from his figure to Sora. Riku starts, worry overtaking his expression— but Sora remembers what to do.

He looks at a remaining metal pillar and snaps his fingers. Lighting swiftly strikes from all sides, deafening the room with a boom.

Despite the ringing in his ears, he can still hear Vanitas laughing.

_[Take my fury and wield it without mercy.]_

A different kind of light begins to envelop Sora and Riku now.

Vanitas finally looks at the other, _“you keep an eye on this one for me, Sheikah.”_

Riku looks a little annoyed at that but nods anyway.

“Vanitas!” His old friend looks back to him at his shout, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

Vanitas shrugs, _“you were always there when it mattered, Sora.”_

As the light begins to take over his vision, Sora swears he sees Vanitas smile one last time.

_“Take care, my friend.”_

___

The Gerudo throw them a feast. On the outside, it's for a celebration of the reclaiming of their divine protector Vah Naboris— which now stands proudly on the plateau of the mesa of the Gerudo canyon, facing the castle. 

How it got there, who knows.

The select Gerudo who were informed of the real cause for celebration are at a formal feast in the palace’s main hall. Sora and Riku stayed for about an hour or so, until they both got handed a drink called ‘Noble Persuit’.

It was iced, but liquid burned going down his throat. Sora loved it. Riku gagged a bit.

Barta, Sora cheers at the sight of her, earning him a noogie, hands them each another cup once they’re finished; saying she’s impressed that Sora can handle liquor so well. 

That makes the two exchange a look.

“Alcohol, can you believe that, Riku?”

Which is how they both end up stumbling back to their beds at the inn. A majority of the city is still celebrating, but the booze in his system has made Sora feel light and floaty. On the other hand, Riku is half-asleep, mumbling things as he attempts to walk before Sora has enough and scoops him up in his arms.

A few passersby whistle at the scene. Riku drunkenly blinks up at Sora then squeezes his arm. “...huh,” is all he says as Sora carries him back through the streets.

Sleep begins to take him as Sora drops Riku down on the bed. It looks so inviting that he curls up right behind Riku, who murmurs something else, but it falls on deaf ears.

___

Morning finds Sora walking up feeling more refreshed than he has in... well, probably years. 

The biting chill of the desert night lingers in the pre-dawn hours of the morning. Sora can’t help but curl his arms a little tighter around the warm body in his arms.

...

Wait— the what?

Consciousness comes back with startling clarity as Sora opens his eyes and is met with the stark silver of Riku’s hair. In the few seconds, it takes for Sora to wake up his brain makes the connection that he’s... spooning Riku. Heat floods his face. He’s quickly untangling their legs and pulling away— so fast that he falls to the floor.

Riku continues to breathe deeply and Sora has some concerns about that, but embarrassment carries his legs quickly from the area. So fast that he nearly forgets about the veil and has to double back for it.

What Sora doesn’t expect is Xion lounging outside the inn. They have a cloak covering their hair again but still wave Sora over.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning; how did you know I was awake?”

Xion draws themself up a little more as their smile takes on a teasing smirk. “Don’t you recall? I know everything that happens in my city.”

“Okay, but seriously.”

Xion laughs now. “Lucky guess. Or more so hope...” They pause before looking behind Sora. “May I steal you away from your companion, just for a few moments?”

Sora turns around and sees Riku’s head poking out the doorway. He’s rubbing at his eyes. Sora points at Xion. Riku gives a thumbs up, then disappears back inside.

“That’s a yes; where to?”

Xion jerks their head as means to follow. They lead him up a wall and through the water channels that line the top of the inner city walls. Once they reach a high enough point, Xion jumps down back into the walls of the Palace. Their guard, Bularia, is standing at attention at a nearby doorway and does not look at either of them as they pass her, only shutting the door behind them.

The room Xion has lead him to looks to be a classroom. It’s empty, the desks all moved to the room’s side, leaving a wide-open space in the center of the room. Xion removes their cloak off their shoulders, spreading it wide on the ground before patting the cloth in front of them, inviting Sora to sit.

Xion rubs at their arms, suddenly looking years younger and much more unsure of themself than Sora can ever recall.

“You can tell me to stuff it... but are you really the hero from times past?”

“Yeah, supposedly.”

“Supposedly?”

“Well... I can’t remember most of my life from so long ago. Side effect from nearly dying and put into a restorative sleep 100 years ago, I guess.” Xion’s face is slack with surprise, but Sora keeps going. “I remember bits and pieces... certain locations and things just, I dunno, bring back memories out of nowhere. It’s a little startling sometimes.”

Xion’s eyes widen with recognition. “When I ran into you in the marketplace. You had said memories.”

Sora nods. “Yu-p. You, uh, your hair reminded me of—“

“Vanitas,” Xion finishes.

“Yeah...” Sora trails off as a deep sadness grips his heart. Still, he smiles, “You helped me remember my friend. So, really, thanks for letting me keep that in my heart.”

“Truthfully, I brought you here to ask of him. My ancestor...” They pause for a moment, voice quiet. “...you were truly friends with him? People... Hylians and Gerudo alike said that wasn’t true.”

Sora sighs fondly, leaning back on his hands. “We met as kids before I was identified as the hero. We would run out into the dunes and play together, spar. There were a lot of sand seal races too. Dunno if you heard about those.” Sora smiles to himself. “He always won, a real champion of the sands.”

Sora pauses, licking his lips before he continues. “The Gerudo shunned Vanitas; there were plenty of attempts on his life through the years... so many people waited for him to be the villain, only for them all to be proven wrong in the worst way possible.”

Xion frowns at the ground, their eyes bright with unshed tears. 

“So he suffered too...”

Sora sits up at that. “ ‘too’?”

Xion wipes at their tears. “The Gerudo try not to repeat their past mistakes. Records state that Vanitas losing his life to Ganon himself was the only way some people accepted that the blessing was not a curse. Then I was born.”

“Xion...”

“I guess,” they cut him off. “I mean... It’s nice to know that I’m not alone in my struggles. I’ve got a great support system here, some people I can truly trust amongst my kind. Vanitas never had that.” They’re still a little teary as they smile at Sora. “But it makes me happy to know that he had you as a friend.”

Sora puts a hand on Xion’s shoulder and the young chieftain leans into the touch. “If it’s all the same, I’d like to be your friend too, Xion.” 

Xion smiles as tears run down their face. The image vividly reminds Sora of Kairi that he can’t help but pull the Gerudo into a hug. 

They laugh, holding back tightly. “I’d like that very much, Sora.” They sniffle a bit. “As your friend, I feel I should be steering you away from danger.” Xion pulls back from the hug whipping at their eyes. “But a chef, I must let you know of a new report I received from the jewelry trades late last night.” 

That look is back, the one of a powerful leader upon the young Gerudo. “Divine Beast Vah Rudania is active and causing trouble for the Gorons upon death mountain.” 

Sora hums and he nods to himself.

“Well, sounds like I’ve got my next mission then.”


End file.
